Konya Koso Kimero
by Shirohane
Summary: Jounouchi gets accepted to work at the Kaiba Corporation and is forced to work with Kaiba as his advisor for a month. During this period, he faces his true feelings towards the other man. Kaiba x Jounouchi.
1. Yellow Acacia

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Disclaimer: The animation and the graphic artwork Yuugiou belongs to Takahashi Kazuki and is in no way associated with this fan fiction's writer. This is merely written for entertainment purposes, and the writer claims no right to neither creation nor sales of the said artwork.

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Note: It is assumed that Yuugi-tachi are 21-years-old in this fan fiction. "Konya Koso Kimero" means something along the lines of "Definitely Decide Tonight."

* * * * *

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"Katsuya."

Warm hands caressed him in firm yet gentle strokes. Soft lips brushed against his, then teasingly moved away when he tried to kiss them back. The lips moved to his neck, where series of light kisses were planted in sensitive juncture of his throat. Lean body pressed into his own, the limbs lazily entwining together.

"Katsuya."

And how he loved that mellow tenor voice. The fragrance, the touch, the sounds-- what was not to love about his lover? Thin lips curled into a smirk, the narrow eyes flashing playfully. Slender fingers wrapped around his cheeks, then the lips descended again to kiss his nose. One leg dug between his legs, teasingly rubbing against the flesh it found there. 

"Katsuya..."

* * * * *

And he woke up.

Jounouchi Katsuya stared up at the ceiling of his room. The ceiling was dirty. Why hadn't he noticed before that the ceiling was so dirty? Probably because he never bothered to look at the ceiling. Right. He squinted at the dirty ceiling, then groggily sat up, shaking his head to chase away the fragments of his dream. Damn, how he hated that dream. Of all people in the world to have wet dreams about, that person was probably the worst. So why did he keep having dreams about that person?

Katsuya stopped his thought process. 'Wet dream?'

"Oh, _crap_!" He yelled, falling off his bed like the stained sheets burned him. "That's just disgusting! Ew! About _that_ person?!"

Katsuya pulled himself up from the floor, rubbing his sore posterior. Wonderful, he's going to start his first day of work with a sore posterior. At the thought of his work, Katsuya froze. The sunlight flitting into the room through cracks on the curtain was too bright for comfort. He fearfully turned to look at the clock by his bedside and suppressed the need to curse, because cursing did not solve anything. He instead saved his breath and splintered out of his room to his bathroom. With a brush still stuck in his mouth, Katsuya pulled his briefcase open and started to rummage through the files to make sure he had everything he needed.

"Katsuya-kun, didn't you say you needed to wake up at six?"

Katsuya turned to look at his father. He pointed at his brush to show that he couldn't talk, then snapped his briefcase close and ran to the bathroom to spit the toothpaste out of his mouth and washing his face before gasping out a good morning, followed by a rushed trip to the closet. "I shut off the alarm clock and fell asleep again, I think. I don't remember."

"Are you late?" His father worriedly asked. Katsuya gave him a sheepish nod, then returned to struggling with his neck tie which refused to be tied. His father gently pushed his hand away and tied it for him instead. "What did I tell you about first impressions being important?"

"I know, Dad, but-- Argh. Well, if I leave right now, I might be able to narrowly make it. Do you think I need to shave?"

"No, but you're skipping breakfast?"

"I'll get something to eat as soon as I get the chance to," Katsuya promised, picking up his briefcase. "I'll see you later."

"Have a safe trip," his father answered. Katsuya spared few seconds cursing the object of his wet dream as he struggled with his shoes before he ran out of his house. He prayed like hell that he won't be late. 

* * * * *

"Five minutes and twenty five seconds, Jounouchi-san," the superior gently scolded. "And on your first day of work, too."

"I'm very sorry, Hirose-san," Katsuya muttered, his head hanging low. "It won't happen again."

"I certainly hope not. If Arita-san was here, he would have given you a piece of his mind," Hirose said. He tried to sound stern, but he couldn't quite hide the smile tugging at his lips. He stepped back and faced all the recruits. "Well, everyone is here now, then. Welcome to the Kaiba Corporation. As you know, it is a very prestigious company, and you will do well to succeed here. All of you will be assigned to one upperclassman each, who will help you adjust to your new work. Since I am in charge of new recruitments in general, if you have any questions or complaints, please bring them to me."

"How is the upperclassman assigned?" A man questioned. Hirose rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I believe... randomly. Well, there aren't many upperclassmen forced into being an advisor to start with. Only people who are relatively new to this company have the job, since more experienced workers do not have the time. But I think the higher you were qualified when you were first accepted, the more inexperienced advisor you would get, to balance the differences out."

'Oh boy,' Katsuya gloomily thought. 'Then I probably got the best advisor.'

Katsuya watched as Hirose read off the list of new workers to their advisors. Most advisors looked friendly, which Katsuya was grateful for. He idly wondered who would be his advisor.

"Jounouchi-san's advisor is Kouyama..." Hirose suddenly stopped himself and frowned at the list. He lowered his voice and asked something to the man standing next to him. The man shook his head and whispered something back. Katsuya had a sinking feeling. This couldn't be a good sign. Hirose looked up and cleared his throat. His expression clearly said that he felt sorry for Katsuya. Katsuya felt even worse. 

"Um. Jounouchi-san. I regret to inform you--" Why did people always felt a 'regret' when doing something, but did it anyway? "-- that Kouyama-san recently became a mother, and is on a maternity leave right now. This occurred a month earlier than expected, so the list did not have a chance to be revised. I am dreadfully sorry about this. We will find you another advisor as soon as possible."

The man that Hirose was talking to softly hissed, "You know we don't have anyone available right now! Even the group of advisors we got right now were nearly impossible to get--"

"I know, but we can't have a new recruitment trying to figure out everything in this vast company all by himself--"

"Call Kaiba-san; he would know what to do--"

"--but he's in a meeting right now, and--"

Katsuya sighed and gloomily stared at the meticulously polished floor. His first day of work, and everything was screwing up beautifully. He was sure all of his misfortunes were induced by Kaiba Seto. He wasn't sure how Seto was responsible for any of his foul luck this morning, but it was his fault anyway. Well, at least the stained sheets from this morning were solely his fault.

* * * * *

"What can you possibly mean by that?" Seto asked. He did not bother to hide the irritation from his voice. He drummed his fingers nervously against the surface of his desk as he glared at the wall across the room from his position. "Hirose-san, surely you are competent enough to match up right number of advisors to the right number of recruitments. How can you have allowed such an error to occur?"

"I am very sorry, Kaiba-san," Hirose quietly apologized at the other end of the phone. "It was only last night that Kouyama-san informed me that she was at the hospital after the baby's premature birth. At that time, it did not occur to me that Kouyama-san was one of the advisors."

Seto bit into his lower lip and shifted in his chair. He glanced at his watch. He wanted to let Mokuba take care of the company for the last time today before he took the responsibility again. He wouldn't even have come to the company today, except he wanted to see his little brother as soon as possible. But it seemed that Mokuba would be unavailable for another thirty minutes, and it was up to him to handle this little crisis.

"There is no one available for this new recruitment, then?"

"No sir. Unless you wish to place someone overtime, which would be violation of labor laws," Hirose said. Seto was annoyed at hint of amusement in the other man's voice, but he allowed it to slide. It was true that he was very demanding of his employees.

"Very well. Mokuba had handled pretty much all important businesses for this month, so I will not be busy. I will be the advisor."

There was a shocked silence at the other end. Then Hirose softly asked, "Are you sure about this, sir? After all, being an advisor is an extra work only given to the neophytes. There may be rumors, more patronizing remarks on the papers." 

"I am also part of this company. Besides, my age more than qualifies me for such work, correct?" Seto dryly asked. His youth was always his greatest weakness. Even in his twenties, in all actuality, he had to admit he was considered too young to run a prodigious corporation like the Kaiba corporation all by himself.

"...well then, whatever pleases you. Please come down to the fourth floor left wing to meet your underclassman to advise. According to the schedule, today will be spent showing the recruitment around the building and informing of him or her of general policies of this company."

"I understand." Seto shut the cell phone off and stuffed the phone in his shirt pocket before standing up and briskly walking out of his office. Lack of qualified people working in the corporation really was posing to be a big problem if the CEO was forced to do the job of an amateur. However, Seto had no desire to lower his standards just to get more people. He did not tolerate incompetence. 

As Seto impatiently watched the numbers flick on the elevator as he headed down to the fourth floor, he briefly wondered what kind of person his charge was. Gods, let it be someone with half a brain. He was willing to be patient and informative to a new recruitment if it was for the sake of the company, but his temper would surely strain greatly if the recruitment was an idiot. Despite the careful background analysis and interviews, new recruitments were typically slow to adjust to the harsh working schedule of the Kaiba Corporation. About half dropped out or were fired after a year.

Seto rounded the corner and was greeted with group of terrified looking young men and women, along with their advisors. He ignored the stammered greetings and awkward bows. He headed straight to Hirose. "Hirose-san, where is the recruitment that you spoke of?"

Seto abruptly froze. His expressionless face did not change, but his eyes conveyed his shock. The Prussian blue immediately changed into ice blue as he scrutinized the blond man timidly standing next to Hirose. The man rose his eyes to look at Seto, and they both blurted out, "What are _you_ doing here?!" 

"This happens to be my company!" Seto snapped. Katsuya did not back down.

"Well, I happen to work here! Where's Mokuba? Hirose-san, didn't you mean Kaiba Mokuba when you said that Kaiba-san would be my new advisor?!"

Hirose's eyes had gone wide. "...I take it you two, ah, are acquainted with each other?"

"I refuse to be this person's advisor! This is not an animal shelter, nor is it a zoo!" Seto furiously said. Katsuya bristled with anger.

"I would rather quit than to work with this anal and Narcissus complex, Hirose-san!" Katsuya glared at Seto. Seto glared back at him. Hirose coughed.

"Well. Now that everyone has an advisor, you're all dismissed. Kaiba-san, I trust you will not go back on your words. If you need anything else, please ask for me."

With that Hirose fled, along with other nervous employees, leaving Seto and Katsuya to engage in verbal mortal combat. They fell silent for few minutes, daring each other to start the fight. Katsuya accepted that challenge.

"Why in the world are you here anyway?! I thought you were in America, getting a degree for business management or something!"

"I did get that degree, which is why I am back. Now, kindly inform me what you are doing at my corporation. Our standards are not so low that any mutt can wander into corridors of our office," Seto coldly replied, his words layered with thorn. While Seto grew more icy with each exchange, Katsuya became more angry and frustrated.

"I qualified to get in, of course! Just so you know, I graduated Toudai with a degree in business management, too!" Katsuya resisted the urge to punch Seto's face. He was educated now. He could use his words to peacefully resolve any conflict he may have with his public associates.

Bullshit.

"And just so you know, I am a human! _Homo sapiens_! Or did they not teach you the difference between humans and canines in that wonderful American graduate school of yours, you jackass?"

"Tokyo University lowered their standard so much that even the likes of you can get in now?" Seto bitterly asked. "The future of Japanese education is very dark if that is the case."

Katsuya had just enough of the insults. Just one more insult, and he was certain that he would engage in a fist fight with Seto, which would be a bad thing. He did not study his ass off all these years just so he can knock couple of Seto's teeth out, get fired, and end up jobless. That was not a fun prospect for the future. 

"It can not be helped that you will be my advisor, so let's stop this childish bickering. Kaiba-san, I have worked very hard to qualify for this job, and I intend to do well here. I enjoy Dual Monsters greatly, and I will do my best to do my work well in this corporation. I will expect you to behave professionally in workplace as well," Katsuya bitterly muttered. He felt corner of his lip twitch at adding -san at the end of Seto's name, but it couldn't be helped. "I'll prove myself to you. That I am indeed qualified for this job."

"Let us both dearly hope that your words can be trusted, then, Jounouchi-san," Seto answered, immediately reverting back to professionalism. Frankly, both men were relieved to temporary cease war and declare truce. But there was still unresolved tension building up just below the surface as the men coldly looked at each other. "We'll see."

* * * * *

To Be Continued

Ukyuu. To think, I'm actually writing a Yuugiou fan fiction... _ From the moment that Kaiba and Jounouchi started to fight and tried to rip each other's throats out, I thought they made a cute couple. But I didn't want to write a fan fiction, because I don't know much about the series. But I really wanted to write something about Japanese corporations, and Kaiba was the only CEO I knew. Thus poor Kaiba and Jounouchi became my next victim. ^^;;

It might seem strange that Jounouchi seems so... well-educated, all of a sudden. I think Jounouchi is intelligent; he just doesn't seem to be motivated enough. So I assumed for the sake of the plot that in the future, Jounouchi would be successful at school. Contrary to popular belief that Jounouchi's father is abusive, even going to the extent of raping his child, I don't think Jounouchi has a horrible relationship with his father. He works hard to held pay off his father' debt, and if he really hated his father that much, he could have lived with his mother. Or even by himself. So... lots of assumptions. 

I became consumed with desire to write something like this after talking with my cousin, who works in a big company. Most of corporation-related details are based on his company and what he tells me about his work. I never attended a Japanese corporation, nor will I ever do so, since I'm a medical student in America. If there is anything wrong, please tell me, and I'll do my best to make an accurate depiction. ^^;;


	2. Flos Adonis

Chapter 2: Flos Adonis - Painful recollections, memories.

* * * * *

There were many things one could do in his teenage years. Jounouchi Katsuya, being the genius that he was not, decided to spend his supposedly best years of life playing duel monsters card game with his friends and fighting with Kaiba Seto. Which might be considered normal enough, had Katsuya not developed feelings for Seto. Katsuya wasn't sure when such feelings emerged. Of course, when he realized that the rapid heartbeats Seto induced were not caused by anger, but a completely different feeling, Katsuya denied. And denied. And denied some more. Because frankly, who would want to fall in love with Kaiba Seto? Liking someone of the same gender was bad enough, but falling for someone who probably had something stuck up his ass was definitely not fun. So Katsuya hated Seto more than he probably deserved and obsessed himself with playing duel monsters. Because then he didn't have to think. He didn't have to try to understand what his feelings for Seto were. The feelings were shoved into bottom of his consciousness.

And during his second year of high school, Katsuya suddenly realized that his father was smaller than him. His father, who had once looked so tall and proud, suddenly looked small and weak. By the developing wrinkles at the edge of his father's mouth and his tired, sad eyes, Katsuya learned that his father was aging. He learned that his father would not be with him for eternity. And this sent him to panic. It was bad enough when his father's business failed and his mother left with Shizuka, unable to bear the burden of his father's debt. He didn't want to lose his father.

The solution lay in school. Katsuya knew that in capitalist society, education was the most important element to success. Money. Money was good. Money would pay off his father's debt and make their lives easier, make his father live longer. It was the only way that he could make living more comfortable for his aging father. So Katsuya studied. And he succeeded. And now Seto, his biggest problem of childhood, emerged again as his biggest problem in the adult world that he had just entered.

"I hate that jackass," Katsuya muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing. Because not only was Seto ruining his life by being his advisor, but he reminded him that Katsuya still had feelings for him. And now that the issue had been brought up, it was getting hard not to think about those ambiguous feelings. Katsuya heavily sighed and scooped more rice into the rice bowl.

"Katsuya-kun, you're eating right now?" Katsuya's father's worried voice asked, breaking into Katsuya's reveries. Katsuya startled and looked up.

"Oh... Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

Katsuya's father frowned at his son. "Please don't tell me you didn't eat anything until now. It's nearly one in the morning! Were you at work all this time?"

Katsuya awkwardly grinned and scratched the nape of his neck. "Oh, um. You know. First day of work, jerk of advisor that won't let you leave. I'll try to come earlier tomorrow."

"Shall I make you something?" Katsuya's father asked, leaning against the kitchen door. Despite the fact that he was proud of his son, he was also worried. After all, the Kaiba Corporation was notorious for overworking its employees.

Katsuya quickly shook his head. "Oh no, that's all right. Please go back to sleep. I'll just eat some rice with _natto_ and pickled vegetables; that's more than enough."

"Go to sleep. You need to wake up early tomorrow, too, don't you?" The father asked, and Katsuya nodded.

"I will. Good night."

"Good night. Don't do anything reckless, Katsuya-kun." 

Katsuya lightly smiled, but he didn't reply.

* * * * *

"Not that line. This one. The green one. How many times must I tell you?" Seto asked, pointing at the computer's monitor. He was annoyingly patient. Despite the fact that Katsuya had managed to screw up all of his assignment for the morning and Seto was stuck teaching him same thing over and over again, he never raised his voice. He just calmly repeated himself, as if he was patiently training a dog not to piss on the floor. 

"But didn't I enter the values in the right grid? Why does the graph come out like that?" Katsuya asked, bewildered. Seto pointed at the screen again.

"You messed up the abscissa. This value is not supposed to go here."

Katsuya squinted at the monitor, then attempted to fix the graph. He somehow managed to kill the window that the graph was in instead. Both Seto and Katsuya stared at the blank desktop in horror. They didn't save the morning's work. There was a brief silence, which Katsuya utilized by innerly yelling at himself.

"Open up the graphing program again," Seto calmly said. "We'll just program it over again. Since you've already done it once, you should be able to do it faster this time."

Katsuya felt a surge of anger at himself. He boasted yesterday that he'll prove the his qualifications to Seto yesterday. Yes, he sure was proving himself right now. What made it even worse was how patient Seto was being. He didn't make any snide comments nor insulting remarks. And his silence hurt his pride more than any degrading words Seto might throw at him. Because it proved that he wasn't even worth the insults. Katsuya felt his shoulder slumping as he double clicked the icon that would start the graphing program.

He looked up when he felt a hand overlapping his own on the mouse. Seto was looking down at him, frowning. "Are you tired?"

Katsuya shook his head, but Seto started to organize the files scattered around the computer. "I'll finish this work at home. Go home for now. You are obviously not alert enough to do this job at the moment. Come back tomorrow, and we'll try again."

"But...!" Katsuya cried, indignant. But Seto shook his head.

"We're just wasting time here. Go home."

Katsuya numbly watched Seto picking up his suitcase and walking away from the room. And he suddenly loathed himself for being so incompetent. How would he protect his father and make him happy, if he couldn't even do his work properly? Katsuya groaned and buried his face in his hands.

* * * * *

Idiot.

No matter how long Seto observed Jounouchi Katsuya, he was an idiot. He was an idiot back when they were still teenagers, and he was an idiot now. Back when they were teenagers, Katsuya had bristled up at the slightest threat to any of his friends. He did not care if he got hurt, as long as he could protect his friends. His heart was bigger than his mind, and he often acted without thinking. He was the very definition of naivety, and this annoyed pragmatic Seto to no end. After all, what was friendship? So-called friends betrayed each other all the time. Only in utopia would friendship have any real meaning. So Seto threatened Katsuya's friends to gain what he wanted, and Katsuya hated him in return. It was fun seeing him baring his fangs, so Seto provoked him with stupid dog jokes. Katsuya hated him even more. It was entertaining.

Seto sighed and glared at his laptop. Katsuya was still an idiot. He was full of hopes of succeeding in this field, of somehow moving up the social ladder and making his father happy. He knew well Katsuya was not doing this for himself. Katsuya himself would probably been content working at the Kame Gameshop as salesmen for the rest of his life. Why was he pushing himself so hard to live up to his father's expectations, when his father had provided nothing for him? 

"Why doesn't he fight back?" Seto muttered to himself, his fingers flying across the keyboard at the all too familiar programming. "Is he that afraid of losing this job? Is he not aware that I'm pushing him too hard? Why is he so obedient and quiet?"

He heaved a heavy sigh and saved his progress before shutting the laptop off. He stood up from the chair and stretched his arms, waiting until blood started to circulate in his veins and he could feel his fingers again. He shook his head, then brushed his hair out of the way and decided not to dwell on Katsuya's problems. He had enough problems of his own without thinking about someone who hated him anyway.

Seto hurriedly walked down the corridor of his office. The only person in this world that he trusted with his life was his little brother Mokuba, and the said little brother was currently the head of the Kaiba Corporation. When Seto left to America to finish graduate school there-- supposedly graduating an American graduate school would make his resume look good-- he had left his corporation at hands of his little brother. Despite patronizing remarks and sneers from senior officers and business partners, Mokuba had outdone himself, and Seto had decided to leave Mokuba as the corporate executive officer for the month that he worked as advisor for Katsuya. Seto needed that month of break before he took over the company again, to readjust himself to brutal world of corporations.

"Is Mokuba finished with his work?" Seto asked Mokuba's secretary. The man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Kaiba received an urgent call from a business partner and would not be available for a while. Would you like to leave a message?"

"Tell him I went home," Seto dryly said. "And give him a good night kiss for me."

While the bewildered secretary tried to figure out if Seto had actually said a joke or was being serious, Seto exited the building and walked along the sidewalk bordering his company. He looked up at the starless sky. The evening breeze felt cold against his skin. It was nice to walk home once in a while, without a driver accompanying him all the time. Provided, it was quite a long distance to walk, but Seto enjoyed the rare moments when he could be himself, not the perfect head of a corporation that everyone expected him to be. When he walked home, he was just another pedestrian, an inconspicuous human among other humans. 

Seto slowed his walk and gave a distasteful look to a person sleeping at the corner of the alley. From the person's business suit, it seemed that the person was drunk and had fallen asleep in the middle of the street. Seto was about to pass the sleeping man, but something held him back. The tussled golden hair looked familiar. Seto leaned down and peered at the face of the slouching, drunk man, and nearly cursed.

The idiot. Jounouchi Katsuya. Katsuya leaked of alcohol, and he was rolled up into a loose ball as he slept his alcohol away. Despite his age, he still had a childish quality about him, and this made Seto worry. After all, there were some pretty weird perverts out here that would even touch a man.

"If you can not handle your work, you should have informed me," Seto muttered to himself, annoyed. "Not get drunk and sleep in the middle of the street. Honestly."

Seto wasn't sure why he was so annoyed that Katsuya was so troubled, nor why he bothered to help Katsuya. But he leaned down and wrapped Katsuya's arm around his shoulder, hauling him up to his feet. Katsuya gave him a sleepy look.

"...oya? Kaiba...? Why aren't you in America...?"

Seto rolled his eyes and started to walk, but Katsuya didn't walk with him. He stumbled and heavily leaned against Seto as Seto moved forward. Katsuya softly laughed and buried his head against Seto's shoulder.

"Ari? Look, the world is tilting and swirling and doing weird stuff... Stop moving, I feel dizzy."

"Please move away. You are putting the scent of alcohol all over my suit," Seto coldly said. Katsuya only laughed harder.

"My bad... But you can... buy another one, you're... rich and what not..." Then Katsuya's voice broke. "Ya know... I wish I can be... rich, so I can take care of my old man better... But I can't do anything right, and... Sorry for being a nuisance, Kaiba."

Seto opened his mouth, but discovered he did not have any reply to that. He instead quietly leaned down and pulled Katsuya to his back. Katsuya quickly slung his arms around his shoulders, resting his forehead against the nape of Seto's neck.

"Oh, wow, the world is moving too fast..."

"Then don't get drunk next time," Seto snapped. He stared up at the sky. "I have no idea where your home is... Well, I guess I'll just have to take you to mine, then."

There was no reply. And to his dismay, Seto discovered Katsuya had fallen asleep on his back, clinging to him like a child.

* * * * *

Something felt warm and soft, and Katsuya happily snuggled into that warmth. It was comforting, even though the scent was foreign to him. The warmth shifted slightly, and it was then that Katsuya vaguely thought that the entity must be a living thing.

Living thing? In bed with him?

Katsuya's eyes snapped open and he gawked at Seto. Seto was asleep next to him, one of his arm underneath Katsuya's head to be a makeshift pillow, while his other arm was loosely draped around his stomach. Katsuya wasn't aware that Seto actually slept, much less that he'll look so peaceful when he slept. Katsuya felt his face heat up into a blush when he realized what kind of situation he was in. His brows furrowed into a frown when he tried to remember what happened last night.

He had been depressed at his own incompetence and had left the Kaiba Corporation to the local bar. He remembered drinking few whiskeys, and then... And then his memory failed him. He remembered nothing more. Just what in the world was he doing in Seto's bed, wrapped in his arms? 

Katsuya nervously looked at Seto's face again, and froze when he realized that Seto was awake. Seto, in fact, was glaring at him. Seto did not look happy to find Katsuya in his arms this morning.

'Oh, shit,' Katsuya thought to himself. 'I'm in so much trouble now...'

* * * * *

To Be Continued

Lots of reminiscing... And explanations for the sake of the plot... ^^;; I hope this chapter makes it more clear why Mokuba was in charge of the Kaiba Corporations. A lot of Jounouchi's reflection on his father was actually reflections on my own father. He doesn't seem as strong and big as he used to when I was a kid, and this kind of hurts me. Do your best, Jounouchi! Prove to Kaiba that you can kick his ass and make your father proud of you! ^^;;

You know, I tried to learn more about Duel Monsters, because that's what Yuugiou is mostly about(except for the first season). After asking my little brother exactly how the game is played, I gave up trying to learn it. It's too difficult! And I thought _igo_(Chinese chess played with black and white stones) was difficult to learn to play... -.-;;


	3. Trumpet Flower

Chapter 3: Trumpet Flower - Separation

* * * * *

"Jounouchi," Seto growled, his eyes flashing angrily. Katsuya cowered at the look and wondered if he should run for it, and if he could sue Seto if he hit him. Seto loosened his grip on Katsuya and sat up, but his glare didn't soften as he grind out through his teeth, "Explain to me why you were sleeping on the street when you were intoxicated. You'd better have a very good explanation as to why you risked tarnishing the Kaiba Corporation's reputation by such a behavior."

Oh. So Seto was merely worried about his precious corporation, not angry that he found Katsuya in his arms the first thing in the morning. Go figure. "Uh. You normally fall asleep when you intake depressants like alcohol..." Katsuya stammered out. "...right?"

Seto didn't look impressed with this explanation. "Why were you consuming alcohol in the first place?"

"Well, you know, after hard day of work, guys often--" Katsuya broke himself off and scratched the nape of his neck. "And I had some things that pissed me off, and--"

"Explain to me why you were upset," Seto interrupted.

"Why?" Katsuya asked, suddenly angered. "What pissed me off is none of your business! What are you, my mom or something? It's enough I have to see you everyday at work, but--"

"That is precisely why. I am responsible for your behavior as your advisor," Seto said. "Whatever is upsetting you would also affect your work, would it not?"

"Piss off, Kaiba," Katsuya groaned. He glanced at his wristwatch and bit his lower lip nervously. "Where is this place? Why am I here? I have to get back home and get ready for work!"

"This happens to be my room, at my house, and you are here because you were drunk and unconscious in the middle of the street. I apologize that we had to share a bed; I did not wish to wake everyone up to prepare a guest room at such a late hour." Seto glanced at the clock on his bedside drawer. "I have no idea where your home is, so just get ready to go to work from here, and I'll give you a ride."

Katsuya stared at Seto. "...you're being civil."

"And I will cease to be civil if you don't get out of my bed and get ready for work this instant." Seto frowned at Katsuya. "How about your suit? Are you going to wear the same thing you wore yesterday? It smells like alcohol now."

"Oh, whatever. I hate suits anyway," Katsuya muttered. "I'll just wear the same thing."

"I'm using the bathroom first, then," Seto said. He pointed to a drawer, and Katsuya noted his suit folded neatly on top of it. With that Seto disappeared to the bathroom, and Katsuya stood up and struggled into his suit. When he was finished-- the suit still smelled faintly of alcohol, but most scent had faded over night-- Katsuya looked at the bathroom, then walked back to the bed and pressed his cheek against the soft sheets. The sheets still had Seto's warmth and fragrance, and Katsuya grimaced. 

"Asshole," he muttered to himself. "He was cuter when he was asleep."

* * * * *

Seto tapped against the computer monitor. "That line," he muttered. "Is most definitely not supposed to be tangent to this one. And why did the average come out in a negative value?"

Katsuya stared at the monitor until he started to see white flashes behind his eyelids. He backed away from the monitor and rubbed his eyes. "Sorry... Can I go to the bathroom?"

"You may." Seto glanced at the strangely curved graphs worriedly. "...but please make it short."

Katsuya nodded and stood up. He all but ran to the bathroom, where he locked himself up in a stall and tightly closed his eyes. He heavily sighed and slowly slid down along the door until he almost sat on the floor, his eyes staring blankly at the wall ahead of himself. Even though technically the graphing was one of the easiest of works, Katsuya kept messing everything up. He was just not patient enough to sit and type each and every one of the values into correct slots while analyzing the data. If such easy work was turning out to be a hell, how will he ever survive this work?

'Kaiba must think I'm so retarded,' Katsuya bitterly thought. 'And he would be right, of course. What kind of idiot can't even graph something on the computer correctly? Just what is wrong with me?'

"Did you hear about Kaiba's underclassman?" A voice asked. Katsuya broke out of his thoughts and trained his ears towards the conversation outside, curious at the mention of a Kaiba. "I heard he was the most incompetent creature to have entered the Kaiba Corporation!"

'That would be me,' Katsuya dryly said to himself. 

"Finally there is something to wipe that smirk off his face. It's annoying how he always does better than everyone else, even though he's young to be my son! Damn it all, I would really like to humiliate him some way!" The other man said, his voice full of loathe for the young Kaiba. "But if he can't even train his underclassman correctly, then he would surely lose his face. He would be the laughing stock!"

The first speaker eagerly said, "I heard it's possible that Kaiba's underclassman might come in the last place in the competition to see who trains their underclassman the best. This would then be Kaiba's first time losing to anyone in the corporation. I can't wait to see the look on that upstart's face."

The men burst into laughter, a cold, cruel laughter. Katsuya felt a knot in his stomach. 

'...that means... because of me, Kaiba would lose face to everyone in this company,' Katsuya thought to himself, trembling. 'This company and his brother is the only thing he gives a shit in his life. And I ruined his return to his company by being such a crappy student... And still he doesn't show any anger to me...'

Katsuya grimaced and covered his face. 'What am I doing?! When I entered this company, I didn't come here to play! I can't lose like this!'

There was the sound of doors opening and closing, and the two men outside were gone. Katsuya deeply breathed and stepped out of his stall. There was a determined look in his eyes. He glanced at the mirror, then thrust a fist at his reflection.

"Come on, Jounouchi! You can do it! You've got to do it, for both Kaiba and yourself!"

Katsuya's reflection grinned back at him, and Katsuya ran back to Seto.

* * * * *

Seto scrutinized the computer's monitor. Katsuya had made small errors here and there, making it very annoying to fix the graph. It wasn't that Katsuya was not capable or anything, but he was too tense. When Seto so much as touched his arm, Katsuya would sharply recoil, his face immediately flushing red. Seto needed to watch over Katsuya working, yet his mere presence made Katsuya make continuous mistakes.

'Does he hate me so much that even mere touch makes him disgusted?' Seto wondered to himself, fixing the number four to four thousand. He lightly sighed. 'Well, no one ever was fond of me save my little brother, but... Even after all these years, to think he still has that much animosity towards me...'

Somehow this thought depressed Seto. The vibration of his cell phone made him stop his work and dig the phone out. "Kaiba," Seto curtly said.

"Honorable Older Brother!" Mokuba's cheerful voice said at the other end. 

Seto couldn't help but smile lightly at his brother's voice. His expression immediately softened and his voice lost its edge as he replied, "Mokuba."

"Are you busy right now?" Mokuba asked. Seto glanced at the graph.

"No, only few more hours of work, and then I will be free. What is it?"

There was a brief silence, and Seto braced himself. He knew his brother well enough to know that silences before conversation did not bode good things for him. "That is... How to say this... There seem to be some kind of talk going between two of our rival corporations. There is a threat that they'll merge, and that will prove fatal to our company, right?"

"S_nrio and B_ndai again?!" Seto groaned, failing to mask the exasperation in his voice. "But I thought the deal fell through six months ago!"

"I thought so, too, but our intelligence reports tell us otherwise. And I'm up to my neck with work right now. Do you think you can... That is, if..."

"You want me to go check them out myself," Seto cut in, sighing heavily. He would do anything for his company. His brother should know that well. "Where are their meetings being held? I will go meet the company representatives there after contacting them."

Seto could almost hear Mokuba fidgeting at the other end. "Well... Hokkaido."

"Are you kidding?!" Seto snapped. "I need few days if that's the case! What am I doing to do with Jounouchi?!"

"Give him an easy assignment that he can do by himself, but would take him a long time," Mokuba nervously suggested. "I'm really sorry, Honorable Big Brother, but you know you're the only one I can count on! I'm sorry to make you work during your break, but..."

Seto noticed Katsuya returning from the bathroom from the corner of his eyes. "All right, I understand. But if you give me sudden assignments like this one more time, I'm going to be really angry!"

"All right! Thank you, Honorable Big Brother!" Mokuba happily exclaimed from the other side. "I promise I'm going to help Jounouchi no Niichan all I can! Come up to the office right now so I can discuss things in detail and give you all the files you need, okay?"

"Fine. I will see you." 

Seto shook his head as he closed his cell phone. He noticed that Katsuya had started his work without him. He cleared his throat. "Jounouchi-san."

"Yes?" Katsuya asked, looking up from his work. Seto returned the cell phone to his pocket, then stared at the ground.

"I'm really sorry, but I have a business to attend to at Hokkaido. I'll be back in a week or so. Will you be all right alone?"

'But it's only my first week at work!' Katsuya protested within his mind. 'And I only got to see you for the past two days after years of not seeing you! You're leaving me again?!'

But he forced a fake smile upon his face. Because he was supposed to be the brainless, cheerful person that everyone can depend on. Jounouchi Katsuya didn't need to burden anyone, nor make anyone troubled for him. So he easily said, "Sure thing! It's only a week after all, right? How bad can that be?"

Seto gave Katsuya a doubtful look. Katsuya grinned back at him. Seto gave in, sighed, and dug around his briefcase. After muttering something to himself and going through some files, Seto produced a thick pile of papers, which he handed to Katsuya. 

"Survey," Seto explained. Katsuya gave him a bewildered look. "Please ask consumers of the right age group and their parents the questions stated there, and organize that data into readable format. We will use that data for our next product, the arcade version of Duel Monsters."

"Oh," Katsuya said. He nodded. "I'll do that."

Seto tapped on the papers. "Please read the instructions on this carefully, and do everything that it requires for you to do. I was going to do this with you after you learn the graphing program, but I guess you'll have to do it by yourself. If you need any help, Mokuba--"

"No, no, I'll be fine," Katsuya hurriedly said. "No problem. You go and do your thing; I'll make sure this is done right."

"If you say so," Seto said. "I need to go see Mokuba right now, and I'll leave right after that. Do you need my help with anything before I go?"

"No! Have a safe trip, I'll do my best!" Katsuya chirped. He sheepishly grinned. "You probably need this time away from me anyway; all this stupidity must be getting to you!"

Seto looked at Katsuya, surprised. Katsuya forced himself to continue smiling, even though he felt his mask slowly slipping away. "I heard... About that whole competition thing. I... am making you lose face, aren't I...? I'm so sorry, Kaiba... san. Because I can't do anything right, you..."

"It's more important that you have a solid foundation right now, rather than get lots of work done," Seto said, shaking his head. "I am not interested in how other people judge you. I am going to make you a valuable work for this company. Trust in your abilities."

"But...!" Katsuya miserably said, his eyes trembling. His voice started to crack, his smile slowly disappearing. He flinched when Seto reached out and took his hand.

"Don't worry about it," Seto sternly said. There was no acidity in his voice. On an impulse-- because Katsuya suddenly looked so lost, so vulnerable-- Seto pressed his lips on back of Katsuya's hand. 

Katsuya immediately blushed, while Seto felt his cheeks threatening to turn pink as well. He abruptly turned away so that Katsuya could not see his face. "I will see you later, then," Seto muttered. Without even bothering to close his suitcase, Seto clutched at the suitcase and hurriedly left Katsuya to gawk at his retreating back, his face a flaming red in color.

"Must... must be an American thing," Katsuya told himself, even though his heart was fluttering wildly. "Yeah, Americans probably kiss each other in hand and stuff, even if... if someone's a guy..."

But Katsuya couldn't help his heart pounding rapidly, nor the warm flush he felt flooding his body.

* * * * *

To Be Continued

Erm. Somehow Japanese people seems to think Americans kiss all the time for no apparent reason. This misconception was fixed over time, but there used to be lots of misconceptions about the Americans a while back. *laughs* My cousins all thought I was nuts, because I live in America... I'm using the companies S_nrio and B_ndai in this fan fictions, since they're well-known companies for children's products. Kaiba Corporation, after all, specializes in children's products, right? I hope you're not offended if you are in any way associated with S_nrio and B_ndai Corporations; I do not mean any insult. X.x

I'm aware that Seto wouldn't be simply referred as 'Kaiba-san'; he would probably be called 'President Kaiba.' But I fell over laughing when I first wrote 'Kaiba Shachou(President Kaiba, Chairman Kaiba).' Somehow it sounded incredibly stupid to me. Besides, technically the _shachou_ is Mokuba for now, so please bear the title 'Kaiba-san.' I can't help but laugh every time I think of calling Seto a president. I think it has to do with the fact that the word '_shachou_' immediately makes me think of really old man with white hair and thick spectacles. ^^;;


	4. Common Almond

Chapter 4: Common Almond - Indiscretion, stupidity, foolishness.

* * * * *

Mokuba hummed to himself softly as he finished filing his reports away. Everything had gone well today-- conferences, stock markets, manipulating older brother. Especially the manipulation of older brother. Mokuba felt terrible when he heard that his older brother was in charge of Katsuya. As much as he loved his older brother, he knew that his older brother was overly strict, and it did not comfort him that Seto and Katsuya strongly resented each other. The threat of two rival companies merging was not as eminent as he had told Seto; rather, he had used the excuse to send his older brother away for a while to give Katsuya a time to recuperate.

"Because, after all," Mokuba muttered to himself. "There is so much of _niisama_(honorable older brother)'s anger one person can take before they crack. You'll have to forgive me, _Niisama_."

Mokuba lightly sighed at the thought of his older brother. His brother had actually learned to control himself better over the years, but he was still a rather difficult person. He stepped out of his office and locked his room, then quickly walked down the empty hallway. The austere atmosphere was foreign to him; usually the hallways were chaotic with workers walking to and fro. His footsteps echoed loudly in the empty hallway. There was a strange clicking noises, and Mokuba paused to listen. The sound became louder when Mokuba's footsteps died down.

Curious, Mokuba stepped closer to the source of the noises. In a dimly lit room, a person was sitting in front of a computer, typing something. "At this hour?" Mokuba wondered, quickly glancing at his watch. His watch told him that it was nearly two in the morning. It was rare for even Mokuba to leave this late. His curiosity doubled, Mokuba eased the door to the office open and stepped in.

"Who's there?" A sharp voice asked. The person lifted up his head and his eyes met with Mokuba's eyes. "Oh... It's just you, Mokuba."

"Don't give me 'it's just you, Mokuba'!" Mokuba snapped. He would have stomped his foot, had he been younger. He settled for crossing his arms over his chest instead. "Jounouchi _no Niichan_(big brother Jounouchi)! Exactly what in the world are you doing here at this hour?!"

"You're a Kaiba, all right," Katsuya said, snickering. He rested his chin against his hand, smirking. "The same thing can be said to you, Mokuba-_chan_. Isn't it past your bedtime? Poor Seto-chan will have a fit if he knows his baby brother is still wandering the office at this hour!"

"That's Mokuba _Shachou-sama_(honorable president) to you." Mokuba playfully said. The boys stared at each other, then burst into laughter at the thought of Mokuba-the-wise and old president. Mokuba stepped closer to Katsuya and plopped into a seat next to Katsuya, and Katsuya ruffled up his hair.

"So honestly, what are you doing here at this hour?" Mokuba asked, glancing at the computer monitor. "Eh? Tables?"

"I spent most of today doing the survey, so I have to organize the data I gathered now," Katsuya said. He pushed back from the desk and stretched his arms, then yawned. "Man, I didn't realize this would take so long. But I finally get the hang of this whole programming thing! Even though why we're using C++ to do simple thing like graphing is beyond me. We can just use windows software for something like that, can't we?"

"Oh, but we want c-outs to all our data; programming the data makes it easier to analyze them and--" Mokuba cut himself off. "You can do this tomorrow!"

Katsuya sighed. "Nah... Kaiba trusted me to do this, so I'll have to give him good results when he comes back. My man's pride rides on this, you know. I won't have Kaiba losing his face to others just because of me. That won't be fair for him."

Mokuba glanced at Katsuya, concern filling his yet-childish face. "Jounouchi _no Niichan_... Is _Niisama_ pressuring you that much? Shall I arrange someone else to be in charge of you?" 

'And miss watching Kaiba's ass everyday?' Katsuya skeptically asked in his mind. But he smiled and said instead, "It's only a month. I'm not that much of a wuss, Mokuba. Besides, Kaiba is fair. As long as I do my work, he keeps off my back. He mollified a lot over the years, you know?"

"Yes, but..." Mokuba bit into his lower lip. He ruefully smiled. "You're so stubborn. Well, do you need any help?"

"No, but thank you," Katsuya said. He patted Mokuba's shoulder. "You go on ahead and get some sleep now. Growing boys need lots and lots of sleep."

"Geez, thanks," Mokuba dryly said. He stood up. "Just when I thought I'm free of my older brother's clutches, you have to play the role of my older brother. I'm not a kid anymore, you know?"

"Once a brat's always a brat to me," Katsuya solemnly said. But playful light was dancing in his eyes. "Sleep well, Mokuba."

"Good night, Jounouchi _no Niichan_," Mokuba said. He gave a light bow to Katsuya. "If you need anything, please ask me."

Katsuya nodded and watched Mokuba leave. He stretched again, then turned his attention back to the computer monitor. "All right, now to go back to this guy..."

* * * * *

"Jounouchi-kun, what happened to you?" Yuugi softly asked. It was incredible how he still looked so childish. His huge purple eyes solemnly looked up at Katsuya, his small hands resting over Katsuya's hands. "You haven't been home for last three days! Do you know your father thinks you've abandoned him? He's drinking again."

"But I called him everyday!" Katsuya moaned. He rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I'll have to go home today. Argh, I still have so much work to do, though. I seriously need a laptop."

"Have you been eating and sleeping properly?" Yuugi asked. Katsuya flinched and turned his eyes away from Yuugi.

"Erm, uh, of course!"

"Jounouchi-kun..." Yuugi warned. Katsuya sighed. He sucked at lying to start with, and lying to a medical student about his health was probably a dumb thing to do.

"I'll eat, I'll eat. Sorry to worry you and all." He turned his eyes back to his friend, hurriedly changing the topic. "How about you? How is your study going?"

Yuugi visibly paled, laughing uneasily. "Studying things I like is a lot of fun, but... I'll be doing a cat dissection soon."

"And then a corpse, right?" Katsuya said, making a face. "How are you going to do those? You cried for a week when you were doing that fetal pig dissection."

"He was such a sweet little thing, and we had to cut him up!" Yuugi wailed, his eyes suddenly trembling as tears gathered up at the edge. Katsuya mentally gave himself a kick for bringing this topic up. But fortunately, Yuugi quickly calmed down. "But my other self took over during the cutting and I only had to watch, so it wasn't so horrible. I think he'll help me with other dissections, too. I know I shouldn't depend on him so much, but I really don't like dissections and I won't be a surgeon anyway, so..."

"Pediatric, eh?" Katsuya said, nodding. "Yeah, that fits you. How is your other self doing? He still studying physics?"

Yuugi immediately brightened at the mention of his other self. He clapped his hands with a childish delight. "Oh, no, my other self is engrossed in psychology right now! We're both very interested in that topic, so it's a lot of fun studying that together!"

Katsuya whistled. "Fun studying together, huh. I never, ever wanted to study again when I graduated college. You two are so weird, you know."

"Perhaps. But thinking that I'll be able to help others is so cool that I can't help but be all excited. Grandpa's health is ailing, too, so I'll be able to help Grandpa soon as well." Yuugi took a sip of his juice, then sat back in his chair. "My other self wanted to talk to you, too. Should I bring him out right now?"

"Sure, why not," Katsuya consented. He was only too glad that Yuugi didn't have to wear the enormous millenium puzzle around his neck to be in contact with his other self. It looked cute when Yuugi was little, but it looked downright weird when a medical student in lab coat bustled around with a huge golden ornament around his neck. Besides, it got stolen all the time when Yuugi wore it, and Katsuya swore his life span got cut short ten years because of constant danger that his friend was in.

A gentle flash of golden light, and piercing deep violet eyes stared into Katsuya's warm brown eyes. The man's lips crooked up into a smile. "Hello, Jounouichi. It's been quite a while."

"Hey," Katsuya said, nodding. Despite the fact that the man shared so many similar feature with Yuugi, something about the man's aura made him completely different from Yuugi. "You said you wanted to talk to me, Yuugi's Other Self."

"Yes. My companion was dreadfully worried about you," the man said. Despite his cold tenor voice, the man's words were almost as gentle as Yuugi's. "This is about Kaiba, is it not?"

"Don't tell Yuugi," Katsuya immediately said, flushing brightly. The only one to have figured out his affections for Seto was Yuugi's other self, and Katsuya was not particularly keen on letting Yuugi know what his true feelings for Seto were. Poor little Yuugi will probably faint. "It's not about him at all! It's work, work. I told you, I don't feel anything for Kaiba anymore."

Yuugi's other self's eyes narrowed. Then his gaze softened. "What you do is your own choice, but don't make others too worried about you. The young one had been visiting your house very frequently last few days." He stopped and listened to something, then chuckled. "Yes, I am aware of that, Companion. However, you will always be a child to me."

Katsuya drank his coffee. It was rapidly cooling, and left bitter aftertaste. Katsuya added more sugar to it. "You really do like Yuugi, don't you."

"How can I help it?" The man asked, his eyes still softened at the thought of his other self. "He is the sweetest creature alive, and he is like a son that I never had, except better. After all, how can one ever have a child as sweet-tempered as he? How can one ever have a mate whose soul is linked with his own?"

"That's what you say. From what I see in others, the true self and dark self don't seem to get along well at all," Katsuya noted. "Well, you freaked Yuugi out when you first appeared, too..."

The two grew silent at the uncomfortable topic. The other self's destructive tendencies when he was first released from the millenium puzzle wasn't an exactly pretty memory. Yuugi's other self suddenly closed his eyes. "My companion wishes to replace me. Remember well, Jounouchi. You are free to make your choices, but you mustn't allow ones that love you to suffer because of it. You need to cool your head at times."

Another flash, and Yuugi was back. Yuugi looked like he was ready to cry again. "Is Kaiba-san being mean to you?! Is that what my other self was talking about?! You two were saying something about Kaiba-san, weren't you?"

Katsuya's eyes widened. He rapidly shook his head. "No! Nothing like that! Besides, he's away right now." He glanced at his watch. "Sorry, but I really need to go. My lunch break is almost over."

"Go home and rest tonight, okay?" Yuugi said, standing up. Katsuya nodded. Yuugi stepped closer to him and fixed his crooked tie. "If Kaiba-san is ever mean--"

"Yuugi, I'm the last person who needs protection," Katsuya groaned. He lightly pinched Yuugi's cheeks. "I'll take care of everything, so you just go and concentrate on your studies."

Yuugi gave Katsuya a skeptical look, but nodded. Katsuya stood up and paid for their drinks. As Katsuya hurriedly rushed back to the Kaiba Corporation, Yuugi sighed and glanced down at his juice. "You make me so worried, Jounouchi-kun... Thank goodness this is only one month phase."

* * * * *

Katsuya critically stared at the mirror. He still thought that the tie didn't match the suit well, but his father had reassured him that it did. Of course, his father was still upset and half-drunk because of Katsuya's long absence from home, so his judgment was probably questionable. "I hope Kaiba doesn't think it's weird or anything," Katsuya muttered to himself. He stopped himself, blushing. "...and why do I care about what he thinks? Get over it already, Katsuya! That stupid schoolboy crush! Argh, that's so immature..."

Katsuya held a manila folder against his chest, a goofy grin spreading across his face. He felt slightly dizzy, but he ignored that feeling. "Hehe, but I really did a kick ass job with this thing! I hope Kaiba's proud of all this work I've done..."

He checked his watch for the tenth time in the last three minutes. Seto should return any minute now. Katsuya leapt up from his seat and paced back and forth, eagerly waiting for Seto to return.

"...Jounouchi?" A soft voice asked. Katsuya sharply turned, a smile lighting up his face at the familiar voice. "What in the world are you doing outside the office building?"

"Kaiba! Welcome back!" Katsuya chirped. Seto's expression stiffened when he saw Katsuya's face. His face confirmed his suspicions when he had first saw Katsuya's turned back from the distance.

Katsuya's body was in a completely horrible shape.

Katsuya's cheeks had shrunken in sharply, and there were dark shadows under his eyes. His normally clear and warm chocolate-colored eyes were red and bloodshot, and his lips were dry and cracking. His whole complexion was ashen and deathly pale, and he seemed to have lost a lot of weight; Seto was quite sure that Katsuya wasn't initially so slender. His golden hair hung in limp clumps, covering half of his eyes. But the smile on Katsuya's face was genuinely happy.

"Gods, Jounouchi, just what..."

"Here!" Katsuya said, thrusting his envelope at Seto. He looked as proud as a kindergartner who had finished his first finger painting. He hung back shyly, looking up at Seto. Seto swallowed a lump in throat. Somehow he had an urge to smack Katsuya upside the head and bring him home to take care of him. Starting when did Katsuya provoke such protective instinct in him? That feeling was reserved only for Mokuba.

Brushing the uncomfortable feelings aside, Seto pulled out the thick report and quickly skimmed through it. He could see the enormous amount of effort that had gone into writing it; the argument was logic and there was no flaw in the structure of the work. However, Seto immediately went into business mode, his voice growing flat and emotionless. "Jounouchi-san, you must not provide raw data in this manner. You will have to do this over again. Everything must be summarized and organized according to the steps in the argument, with appropriate graphs and tables to support such arguments. In report of this amount of data, you need only twenty pages at maximum. I can produce this argument in ten."

Katsuya's face grew more pale, his hands shaking slightly. He struggled to keep his voice neutral. "So... it's useless?"

Seto shook his head, his eyes still intent upon the report. "No, the data is usable. However, we must program this data into--"

He broke himself off when loud thumping noise interrupted him. His eyes immediately focused on Katsuya. Katsuya was on the floor. Seto paled, kneeling down to gently shake Katsuya's shoulder. "Jo- Jounouchi? Jounouchi!" 

There was no response. Seto gathered Katsuya's still form in his arms. Katsuya's face had turned absolutely white. Seto's voice violently shook as he shook the still form roughly. "Jounouchi! Snap out of it! Jounouchi!"  
Why wasn't he responding?

"KATSUYA!!!"

* * * * *

To Be Continued

I don't like to use Japanese when I translate fan fictions from Japanese to English or from Korean to English... I mean, I might as well as leave this in Japanese if I'm going to write Japanese all over the place. ^^;; But people seem to dislike the translation 'honorable big brother', so I'll make exception and apply all the titles in Japanese. It does sound better for Mokuba to say '_niisama_', but. Uun. I don't want to use Japanese if I can help it.

If anything about computer and stuff is wrong-- please ignore it. ^^;; I only studied basic computer programming, so I'm not sure how effective C++ is for managing your data. The output is pretty nice, though, if you program the data right. It's just that the language gets really complicated once you get into complicated programs. But I'm a biology person, not a computer person, so please don't trust me with the computer facts. Dissections are fun. X3 (But I'm not looking forward to the cadaver dissection.)

Back in the early days of Yuugiou, when Yuugi's other self was really cool and psychotic and used to burn people alive... I remember thinking Yuugi's other self and Yuugi will probably end up hating each other. To my complete surprise, not only did they get along well as the series progressed, right now they act sort of... well... -_-;; (They would make a cute couple, but thoughts of intense pedophilia and narcissism echoes in my mind.) But I was thinking about how Yuugi's other self might feel about Yuugi, and that thought echoed in my mind so long that I had to put that somewhere in this fan fiction: "_Shouganain darou_(I can't help it, can I)? _Aibou wa sekai no ichiban yasashii ko dashi, ore no musuko youna hito nandashi..._(Companion is the world's sweetest child, and he's also like my son...) _Suki nano wa touzen da_(Of course I would like him)."


	5. Bud of White Rose

Chapter 5: Bud of White Rose - Ignorant of love, masked heart

* * * * *

"Malnutrition, insomnia, and excess fatigue," Mokuba fumed. "_Honestly_, Niisama!"

Seto, who was failing to see how Katsuya being hospitalized was his fault, humorlessly stared at his little brother. Mokuba glared back at him, his little hands firmly planted on either side of his waist, his left foot tapping impatiently. Seto crossed his arms over his chest and turned away. "Che. It was the moron's fault for not taking proper care of himself. I did not ask him to overwork himself."

"It's because you intimidated him and made fun of his work that he was forced to work until he dropped from sheer exhaustion! What will people think if this get out to press? The Kaiba Corporation works its workers to death. Yes, I'm sure that will make an excellent reputation for our future business partners! Go apologize to Jounouchi no Niichan now, before he presses a lawsuit against us or something!"

Seto rolled his eyes. "You and I are both well aware that Jounouchi will do nothing of the sort. And even if he did, I can easily crush such puny lawsuit."

"Niisama!" Mokuba complained. He decided that this argument was going no where, so he decided to exploit his big brother's greatest weak point. He glared at Seto's shirt button until he felt his eyes tear up, then slowly raised his eyes to his big brother. "...why are you so mean to my friends? If you really care for me, can't you at least be civil towards my friends? What if Jounouchi no Niichan never talks to me again?"

"You don't need the society of the likes of him and his friends," Seto said, even though the corner of his mouth was twitching. He tried not to look at his little brother's huge gray eyes, brimming with tears. He meant to sound stern, but utterly failed. "Stop this nonsense. You are too old to be crying at such trifling matters."

"You don't _like_ me! You don't want me to have any friends, and be an outcast, and eventually commit suicide because of the peer pressure!" Mokuba wailed. He tried not to smirk. He thought to himself, 'Three, two, one--'

"Fine! Fine, I'll go apologize to that-- that mutt, and then you shall leave me alone, do you understand?!" Seto exploded, flinging his arms to the air. He darkly scowled and muttered something under his breath as he stalked away to Katsuya's room. As soon as Seto left, Mokuba wiped his tears away and smirked.

"Zero. Right on target."

* * * * *

Katsuya groggily opened his eyes, and was promptly attacked by a flying blur of scarlet, gold, and indigo. He blinked few times before he made out spiky scarlet and gold hair, and sleepily muttered, "...Yuugi?"

"Jounouchi-kuuuun!" Yuugi cried, clutching Katsuya's shirt collar. His huge purple eyes immediately filled with tears. "Please forgive meeee! I'm a failure as a pre-med! I didn't even know how serious your condition was; I should have taken better care of you; I'm so very sorry--"

"Yuugi," Katsuya muttered, closing his eyes to try to block out a migraine that pounded against his skull. He gently pushed Yuugi away. "I love you and all, but do shut up."

Yuugi sniffled and nodded, wiping his tears away. He sat back and started to fidget with Katsuya's IV wires. He frowned, and then adjusted something, and Katsuya felt cool liquid flooding into his veins. It felt really unpleasant. Katsuya shivered at the feeling of something cold going straight into his vein, then looked around. "Why am I at the hospital? This is a hospital, isn't it?"

"You've fainted," Yuugi quietly said. "Kaiba-san brought you here. You're not allowed to have any visitors right now; I'm here as an intern. Do you have any discomforts? Are you hungry?"

"No," Katsuya said, closing his eyes. "I feel really tired, though. Say, Yuugi... Will you go check on my old man? I'll call him later."

"Of course I will," Yuugi said, nodding. He stood up and tucked the blanket around Katsuya and fixed his pillow. "Then go to sleep, and when you're hungry, we'll try out liquid diet, okay? Either the nurse or I'll come if you ring that bell over there, and the doctor will come to check on your later tonight."

"Right... Whatever," Katsuya muttered. He closed his eyes and drifted off.

* * * * *

The idiot was sleeping.

Seto sighed in exasperation. He came all the way to Katsuya's ward to visit him, and he had to be sleeping. He sat down on a stiff chair next to the bed, silently scrutinizing Katsuya's sleeping face. The color returned to Katsuya's face, even though his face still looked wean. Seto reached out and gently tucked Katsuya's hair behind his ear, then brushed damp blond locks away from his forehead. Katsuya mumbled something and leaned into his touch. 

"He's kind of cute when he's not leaking of alcohol," Seto mused. He traced the high cheekbones to soft flesh of Katsuya's cheeks, then brushed his finger lightly against his lips. The man's skin felt a lot tougher than his little brother's skin, but definitely softer than his own. Seto lightly sighed. "Why did you have to go ahead and overwork yourself like that? I kept telling you not to push yourself too much." 

The result of new recruit training competition had been announced earlier that morning. Katsuya had come in second. This had been first time that Seto had scored second in anything related to his company, yet he didn't feel strong resentment and misery as he did when Yuugi had defeated him at Duel Monsters. Somehow he didn't mind that he was not the 'best', because Katsuya had tried his best. If anything, Seto was a bit proud of the result, because Katsuya was in the last place when the competition started, and he had improved so much over the short period of two weeks that he had managed to get in the second place. 

"...Kaiba?" A soft voice asked him, breaking Seto out of his reveries. Seto sharply withdrew his hand and sat back, watching Katsuya slowly open his eyes to look at him. Katsuya squinted. "Is that you, Kaiba...?"

Seto felt no need to answer such an idiotic and rhetorical question. Katsuya tried to pull himself up into a sitting position, and Seto sharply said, "Lie back down, Jounouchi. Don't even think of getting up."

Katsuya slumped back. He turned his head away. His hands clenched around his bed sheet so tightly that his knuckles started to turn white. "...sorry..."

"For what?" Seto asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He buried his chin into his chest, broodingly staring down at Katsuya. "I'm the one who made you overwork, am I not? According to Mokuba, I'm the big, bad employer who drove you to this state."

"No, it was because I was an idiot," Katsuya bitterly muttered. "I can't do my work, and I can't even take care of myself... I'm a total failure. I'm always getting in your way. You must think I'm such a loser..."

Seto found himself at loss for words. He was not one to comfort others. He continued to evenly stare at Katsuya. He wanted to tell Katsuya that it wasn't his fault; that he should have been a better advisor. He wanted to tell Katsuya that he was a good worker, that he was proud of him for progressing so rapidly. But instead Seto finally said, "You've done your best."

And he stood up and left, because he didn't know what else to say. And Seto didn't like it when he didn't have control over a situation. He usually retreated when things got out of his hands. But Katsuya took Seto's silence and abrupt departure as disgust at himself.

"He must hate me," Katsuya finally moaned, burying his head into the pillows. "Argh, why can't I ever do anything right..."

"Can't do what right, Oniisan?" A gentle feminine voice asked, and Katsuya turned towards the speaker, his eyes widened.

"Shi- Shizuka! What are you doing here?"

"Family members are allowed to visit, of course," Shizuka softly said, kneeling down next to Katsuya's bed and taking his hand in her fragile hands. "I came as soon as I got a call from the hospital. Goodness, what have you been doing with yourself? You make me so worried. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Katsuya said, managing a smile. He reached out his IV-free hand to pat Shizuka's head. "Sorry about this. I was being my usual moronic self."

"Don't say that, Oniisan. If you say such bad things about my precious older brother, I'll be sad," Shizuka said, shaking her head. She looked up when someone else entered the room. "Hello," she cheerfully said, smiling. Katsuya quirked up his eyebrow instead.

"I thought only family members were allowed to visit me?"

"Oh, my brother and I have the permission to visit you," Mokuba said, grinning. "My brother funded about a third of the building cost of this hospital, so it wasn't that hard to get the permission. The doctor said if you can hold in semi-hard foods like pudding and apple sauce, you can go home by tomorrow morning."

"Oh, thank goodness. So I can go to work?" Katsuya asked in a relieved tone. 

Mokuba and Shizuka immediately chided, "Absolutely not!" 

"You need at least a week's good rest and good nutrition, Jounouchi no Niichan!" Mokuba scolded. "Geez, you're almost as work-crazed as my big brother! You know that's not a healthy thing for you. What are you going to do if you collapse again?"

"Come stay with mother and me for a week, Oniisan," Shizuka pleaded, worried expression filling her face. Katsuya felt guilty that he was making his little sister worried again, but he firmly shook his head.

"I can't... Who'll pay for this month's bills and food costs, then? If I rest for a week, that'll seriously strain our living costs, Shizuka. Our old man has only me to depend on; I can't let him down like that."

"But what if you really become ill? Who will take care of you then?" Shizuka asked, sounding more and more upset. Katsuya bit down on his lower lip. He was supposed to protect his little sister, but all he was doing was to cause her pain like this. Exactly what was he good for?

"I promise I'll eat and sleep from now on, okay?" Katsuya softly said. "You trust me, right? I won't make you worry like this again."

"I got a great idea!" Mokuba cut in. Both Katsuya and Shizuka turned to look at him questioningly. Mokuba had a broad grin on his face. "Come stay at my home, Jounouchi no Niichan! You can be my private secretary for a week at home! I need someone to organize all those files I stashed around at home. I'll give you your regular salary if you'd work on the files at least three hours a day."

Katsuya frowned, shaking his head. "Mokuba... No, I can't do something like that. I need to do my normal work; earn my salary."

"Oh, my handwriting is horrible, so the work I'm giving you is even harder than the work you'd have at the main office!" Mokuba cheerfully said. "After all, I'm a Kaiba, and I won't give you your paycheck if you didn't earn every single yen."

"Thank you for your concern, Mokuba, but..." Katsuya lowered his head. "Your brother..."

"Hey, I'm the president here, remember?" Mokuba cheerfully said. "Don't worry about my big brother! He's rarely home, anyway."

"But..."

"That's a great idea! Thank you very much!" Shizuka happily said.

"But..."

"It's decided, then! I'll go tell Niisama!" Mokuba said. He quickly walked out of the room. Shizuka stood up and clapped her hands.

"I'll go get some of your belongings from your home, then. Get well soon; I'll come visit you at Kaiba-san's home."

"But..." Katsuya tried again. Shizuka left. Katsuya stared at the doorway, his mouth hanging open. He finally closed his mouth and groaned. "Argh, I don't care anymore..."

* * * * *

"...you did what?" Seto asked. His voice was quiet, almost hissing, and Mokuba knew he was treading on a thin ice. It was when Seto was most quiet and composed that he was most deadly. But Mokuba was the all-mighty little brother, and damned if he couldn't coerce his older brother to his will.

"I needed a private secretary, so I asked Jounouchi no Niichan to stay at our home for few days and take care of my files. It's only for a week."

Mokuba cringed and braced himself for a long and bitter argument that would eventually lead up to him having teary eyes again, but the argument never came. There was a long silence, and Mokuba stole a glance at his older brother and was surprised. Seto seemed to be thinking of something, and his eyes were slightly softened. But that look was soon wiped out, and Seto coldly drawled, "I'm going to cut off your allowance for this month."

"...but... Niisama, so mean!" Mokuba protested. Seto sternly looked down at his little brother.

"He's your private secretary, is he not? So his salary is coming out of your allowance."

Mokuba huffed and sulked. Seto gave him a triumphant smirk, then turned his heels and walked to where Katsuya was. He had to make sure Katsuya knew that Seto wasn't willing to accept him into his house. After all, he had been rather pleased at the prospect of Katsuya staying under his care for few days, and such emotions did not please him. Why was he so happy that he got to take care of Katsuya? After all, he was some... lowly proletariat. Lower middle-class. Inferior.

Seto entered Katsuya's room, and was dismayed to find Katsuya sleeping yet again. Was this some kind of rebellion from Katsuya? Why did he have to sleep every time Seto came to visit?

"Nn. Kaiba..." Katsuya muttered, shifting in his bed. Seto tried not to look annoyed. 

'He's even having nightmares about me? Just how much does this man loathe me?' Seto gloomily asked himself. Katsuya's face was flushed, his lips slightly open.

"Aa... Don't tease... Please, give me..."

Seto paused and blinked. That... didn't sound right.

"Kaiba! Yaa... If you do that... Nn..."

Seto's face immediately reddened when the sounds Katsuya was making became more erotic. He turned away from the bed, covering his mouth with his hand, his face becoming brighter red as Katsuya kept panting and squirming on the bed. 'He's... He's having a perverted dream about me?!' Seto asked himself. 

Somehow, he was not disgusted with that thought.

* * * * *

To Be Continued

Waa. Jounouchi, such a pervert. ^^;; Well, I guess he can't really help his dreams, and considering he's been avidly watching porn material since he was a teen... *coughs* Kaiba's in such a denial; he's so funny. (Even in the original series, he's in denial... So much denial...)

Mokuba's so evil; he's just like my little sister. She lives to manipulate me. *laughs* Oh well, I still love her, the little vixen. Little siblings. Such necessary evils. ^^;; (Shizuka's really cute, though. But she'd be kind of boring to have around, because she's so sweet tempered. I like arguing with my little sister. X3)


	6. Amaryllis

Chapter 6: Amaryllis - Splendid beauty, pride, timidity

* * *

Katsuya stirred awake and mutely glared at his hand, which was lying right in front of his face. In blue silken sheets. In a king-sized four-poster with matching pillows and blanket and coversheets and other fancy bed pieces. 

The hell?

Katsuya sat up, rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, and wondered why in the world he was sleeping in a strange bed and he was still not alarmed. And then he remembered why the bed seemed so familiar to him. He yawned and rolled off of the bed. "Kaiba's bed again? Geez, with the amount of guest rooms he has, you would think he would give me a room instead of sharing a bed every time I come along for a visit..." Katsuya muttered to himself. He was not displeased, no, but it still made him wonder what was up with Seto's fetish with sleeping on the same bed as his guest. He didn't really seem like the cuddling type.

Pushing the obnoxious puzzlement to the corner of his mind, Katsuya looked down on himself and was relieved to see that he was no longer wearing a hospital gown. Instead, he was wearing an indigo-colored terry robe. He assumed that it was Seto's robe, because it was too big and kept sliding off his shoulder every time he moved. Katsuya gave a quick scan to the room and decided none of his own clothing article was in existence. He briefly wondered if Seto would mind very much if he showed up in his sleeping robe, and shrugged. If Seto let him borrow it, he probably didn't mind if Katsuya walked around in it. 

After taking care of his morning toiletries, Katsuya descended the stairway, his bare feet making no sound against thick, rich cream-colored carpet. Katsuya found the carpet funny. Almost no home he had visited had a carpet, much less such a thick and fluffy carpet. He wearily looked around at the bottom of the stairs, wondering if he should continue to wander around until he got lost or he dared to break the silence by calling for Mokuba. He decided the latter was probably a better idea-- the sheer size of the mansion was intimidating--, so he hollered, "Mokuba!"

"Yes?" Mokuba's voice asked right behind him, and Katsuya whipped around to face Mokuba, who was walking down the stairs towards him. Katsuya sheepishly grinned, scratching the nape of his neck.

"Oh, there you are. I was wondering where I'm supposed to go. Unless, you know, you want me to stay at Kaiba's room all day."

"We're going to eat breakfast, and then I'll show you the study, where you can do your work. Otherwise you can explore on your own. Niisama or I'll rescue you if you get lost." Mokuba smiled good-naturedly and started to walk ahead of Katsuya. "Just yell really loudly when you get lost, like you did just now. But not when I'm right in back of you."

Katsuya rolled his eyes, but he was still grinning when he was trotting after Mokuba. "Hey, I don't have eyes at the back of my head."

Mokuba laughed, his shoulders shaking slightly. He entered a long hallway, brightly lightened by many big windows at either side of the wall. He walked along the hallway until he reached the dining hall. He pushed the door open, and Katsuya found Seto already at the table, a newspaper perched in his hands, coffee in front of him, dressed in wrinkleless suit. Flawless. He could have been in a magazine.

"Good morning to you, Niisama," Mokuba said, bowing lightly. Seto nodded in return.

"Good morning, Mokuba." There was a pause. Seto's eyes flickered to Katsuya. "Good morning, Jounouchi-san."

"Erm. Hey," Katsuya awkwardly replied. Mokuba sat himself next to his brother, and Katsuya gestured to the chair on the other side of Seto. "Mind if I sit there?"

"Go ahead," Seto smoothly said. He gestured to the stack of pancakes, plate of toasts, and bowl of fruits. "If none of these are to your taste, you can ask the cook for something else."

Katsuya pulled out a chair and plopped down. The robe slipped off of his shoulder again, exposing his shoulder before Katsuya scowled and pulled it back up. Seto resisted the urge to smirk. Really, Katsuya wearing Seto's sleeping robe looked quite attractive. Because the robe was too big, Katsuya looked like a girl who had slept with a boy the night before and couldn't find anything else to put on. Innocent yet tempting. Katsuya tucked the robe more securely around his body. "You guys eat American style breakfast?"

"It's too messy to try to eat a bowl of rice and miso soup while typing on the laptop," Mokuba explained, picking up a piece of toast. "Or reading a newspaper. This stuff is more filling than it looks; try it out. Thank you for the food!"

Katsuya frowned and poked at a pancake. American food didn't sound like a good idea for breakfast. Too greasy. He'll probably feel queasy afterwards, but Katsuya swallowed his complaints and started on the pancake after a quick 'thank you for the food.' He didn't want to impose on Mokuba's hospitality. Seto glanced at Katsuya, then placed a toast on his plate and poured honey over it. Katsuya looked up at Seto, surprised, while Seto poured out a cup of green tea and set it next to the plate. Seto pushed the pancakes and butter out of the way before going back to his newspaper.

Katsuya wasn't sure what to make out of Seto's strange... almost older brother-like... behavior. So he did the only logical thing he could think of. He ate the toast. And he was surprised to find the breakfast light and tasty. Katsuya happily munched on his toast. Mokuba, who was too engrossed in his own breakfast to notice his older brother's strange behavior, stood up from his seat. "I ate well! I'm heading over to the company now. Are you coming right now, Niisama?"

Seto shook his head. Mokuba nodded and picked up his suitcase from the floor, straightening out his suit and tugging at his tie before he waved at Seto. "Then I'll head out. Will you show Jounouchi-no-niichan where the study and my files are?"

"I will. Have a safe trip," Seto replied, nodding. Mokuba warmly smiled at his brother and Katsuya, then walked out of the room. Only when Mokuba left did Katsuya realize that he was left alone. With Kaiba Seto. Who was staring at him now. Which was probably a very bad thing, because Katsuya felt his cheeks starting to turn pink at the gaze. "Jounouchi-san."

"Ye, yes?" Katsuya squeaked out. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What is it?"

At this point Katsuya turned slightly to look at Seto, and wished that he hadn't done so. Seto was resting his chin against his hands, fingers crossed together, his deep blue eyes solemnly regarding Katsuya. His gaze was quite intense, as if Seto was trying to bore a hole through Katsuya just by looking at him. And Katsuya always felt unnerved by that gaze. Seto quietly said, "Did you finish your breakfast?"

Katsuya pushed in the remainder of the toast into his mouth and nodded. Seto finished his coffee and stood up. He neatly folded his newspaper and placed it next to the empty cup, and then he stood up. "Very well. I shall show you the study."

Katsuya nodded again, not quite trusting his voice yet. Seto wordlessly turned around and briskly started to walk away, and Katsuya almost had to run to keep up with Seto's long strides. As he walked, Katsuya tried to memorize the way around the mansion, but promptly lost track when they rounded their fifth corner. Seto suddenly stopped, and Katsuya almost smacked right into him before he caught himself. Seto opened the door. "This is the study, and the files you see stacked on top of that desk are Mokuba's files. All the stationeries you might need should be in the desk drawer. Do you need anything else?"

"I don't think so," Katsuya muttered, impressed by the sheer size of the study. There were stacks of papers, diskettes, and CDs, probably all vital secrets of the Kaiba Corporation. Frankly Katsuya was flattered that Mokuba trusted him with such documents. Katsuya drew the robe around his body more tightly as he looked around. His eyes finally rested on Seto, who was leaning against the doorway, quietly studying him. Katsuya cleared his throat. "Uh, thank you."

"Mokuba's room is actually right across the hallway, and I think Mokuba is almost same size as you are. If you want to get rid of that sleeping robe, I don't think Mokuba would mind if you borrow few of his clothing. There should be an intercom in Mokuba's room for the butler if you need anything else." Seto seemed to consider something, then he quietly said, "Don't overwork yourself this time."

That did it. Katsuya strode across the room and pressed his hand against Seto's forehead while resting his other hand against his own forehead. He frowned as he compared the temperature between their foreheads. Seto didn't seem feverish. "Kaiba, did you finally crack, or have you been sniffing something weird lately? Are you okay?"

Seto looked slightly taken back-- but only slightly-- and then he coldly asked, "Did I give you an impression that I am not all right?"

"Because you're being _nice_! To _me_!" Katsuya said, his chocolate-colored eyes wide with bewilderment. "What's up with you?"

"I thought you would like me to be civil to you," Seto snapped, his eyes narrowing. "Especially given the content of dreams you seem to be having."

"What dreams?!" Katsuya demanded. He was starting to panic. The only dreams he remembered having lately were those of rather questionable content, and they all involved the man standing in front of him. Somehow or other. Katsuya's worst fears were confirmed when Seto's lips curled into a smirk.

"You want me, don't you?" Seto sneered, contempt clearly on his face. Katsuya flinched at the cold tone. "Clearly, you have rather strange hobbies."

"Like hell! Why would I want you?!" Katsuya felt his hands clenching into fists at his side, and he furiously glared up at Seto. "Do you have a proof of that outrageous claim you made just now, or is this another one of your narcissistic fantasies? Not everyone in the world are in love with you, you know! I hate everything about you!"

Seto's lips were drawn to a thin line, his eyes an icy blue. "Proof, you say?" Seto growled. He grabbed Katsuya's robe and pulled him close, promptly layering his lips over Katsuya's lips. Katsuya felt his body freezing stiff, his eyes widened with shock. Seto was surprisingly gentle with his kiss, his lips lightly nibbling at Katsuya's lower lip before his head tilted and he pressed his lips more insistently against Katsuya's. Katsuya felt his body soften and his hands reached out to clutch at Seto's shirt collar, savoring the faint scent of coffee and syrup still lingering upon the soft lips. Seto slowly pulled away and placed another gentle, quick kiss against Katsuya's lips, his hands reaching out to encircle Katsuya's body. The sleeping robe started to fall away, and Seto leaned down to kiss Katsuya's exposed shoulder. The cold air against his shoulder snapped Katsuya back to reality, and he shoved Seto away.

"What are you doing?!" Katsuya screamed at top of his lungs, backing away from Seto. He felt his legs threatening to collapse underneath him, his heart furiously pounding against his ribcage. All those nights' worth of dream were nothing in comparison to the real thing; mere kiss was enough to make Katsuya melt into a puddle. But this was reality. Seto didn't love him. "You sick pervert!"

"You seem to enjoy it enough," Seto pointed out, his eyes narrowing again. "Isn't this what you wanted? Or are you after money? I can provide both."

Seto's head whipped back with a sickening cracking sound, and Seto stepped back. Few seconds were needed before sharp stinging pain registered, and Seto reached up to corner of his lip and was surprised to find blood there. Katsuya's hand was still clenched into a fist. Something unreadable was flashing in his eyes. "I'm not your kept woman. I don't sleep my way up, either. Go find a prostitute if money and sex are the only things you look for in a relationship." Katsuya felt sharp pang of disappointment in his heart as he muttered, "You're disgusting."

Seto didn't know why the rejection was bothering him. Did he understand it wrong? Did Katsuya have no interest in him at all? Seto felt anger well up inside of him. Even if he did misunderstand, how dare Katsuya punch him, much less reject him? Did he really hate him that much? Seto wordlessly turned away and walked out of the study. 

When Seto left his line of sight, Katsuya slowly collapsed to the floor, his fingers tracing his lips where Seto had just kissed him. His bottom lip trembled. "I didn't want my first kiss with him to be like this... He just views me as a cheap ass... He's... He's such a _bastard_. It's not fair; why did I grow to like him?! Why couldn't it have been someone cute like Yuugi or sexy like Mai or even sweet like Anzu?!"

Katsuya buried his face in his hands. "It's just not fair..."

* * *

"Good morning, Niisama!" Mokuba chirped when he noticed the tall form of his older brother from the distance. Seto hardly gave him a glance; he briefly nodded in acknowledgement before he rapidly strode away. Mokuba blinked in confusion before he gathered his files and chased after his older brother. "Niisama?" 

"What is it?!" Seto snapped, his eyes narrowing as he glared at his little brother. Mokuba didn't cower at the look.

"You did show Jounouchi no Niichan where the study was?"

"I'm not a moron; I didn't forget! And don't mention him in front of me!" Seto felt his eyes narrowing again at the mention of Katsuya. Katsuya was the only one that Seto had offered an opportunity to bed him! How dare he reject his offer? All modesty aside, Seto knew from admiring looks of others that he had an attractive appearance, he knew he was intelligent, and he was rich on top of that! It should be an honor to sleep with him! 

Mokuba wondered if the stocks went down again. Or an annoying glitch in the main system? It was quite unusual to see his older brother in such a fit of temper. Mokuba offered the papers in his hands to Seto. "You wanted these files, right?"

Seto didn't even look at the papers. "Yes, now go along and let me be, Mokuba."

Mokuba tilted his head to one side, but obediently went back to his office.

* * *

Katsuya was languidly stretched out on the sofa, his eyes skimming through the profit curve of the Kaiba Corporation for recent few years. He looked up when he noticed someone entering the study out of the corner of his eyes. "Welcome back," Katsuya greeted. His greeting was ignored. 

"Why are you still here, Jounouchi-san?" Seto coldly asked. "Mokuba had said that you are to work no longer than three hours at a time, did he not? Can you not even take proper care of yourself?"

Katsuya felt his heart sinking at the formal speech pattern. The words were cold and polite, as if the two were nothing more than casual acquaintances. Seto, then, was only toying with him after all. Katsuya lowered his eyes to the floor. "I'm not working right now. I was bored, so I thought that I'd familiarize myself with general facts about the company we work at."

Seto was in a turmoil, but he kept his emotions well hidden. His voice was indifferent, allowing none of his confusion and anger to escape. "Very well."

There was a brief but heavy silence as Seto silently regarded Katsuya, while Katsuya found the floor fascinating. Then Katsuya lifted his head and hesitantly started, "Um, Kaiba-san..." He swallowed before he continued. "Would you consider sending me to another branch of the Kaiba Corporation? Osaka or... even somewhere close, like the Yokohama branch. It makes no sense that someone as incompetent as me stays at the Tokyo main branch, right?"

"I trained you," Seto quietly said. "You are competent worker. Do you not even know of your own abilities? Did you get your Tokyo University diploma through the mail order?"

"Did you find your Harvard University diploma in trashcan?!" Katsuya exploded. He decided to screw the formal speech pattern. "You hate me, don't you?! Then why won't you let me go, Kaiba?! Do you still see me as some kind of whore? I made my intention perfectly clear this morning!"

"Then make _this_ clear!" Seto yelled back, also reverting back to the casual speech pattern. "I detest beating around the bush, so answer me! Are you attracted to me or not?! If you are having erotic dreams about me, why are you so disgusted with the idea of sleeping with me?!"

Katsuya leapt up from the sofa to properly participate in the screaming match. "I'm not disgusted with that, you idiot! I've had a crush on you since we were in high school! I like you!" Katsuya took a deep breath, and then screeched, "You're a jerk, I don't care if you fire me, and I hope you get run over by a truck someday!"

Seto was taken back by this confession. Katsuya did have feelings for him? And then rage returned. If he liked him, then why did he reject him this morning? Was this some kind of sick game? Seto hated being confused. He was enraged that Katsuya managed to confuse him so much, to make him feel so miserable and lost. So he did the most idiotic thing he could have done. "Be gone!" 

"Gladly! I'm going back to my old man!" Katsuya snapped back. He pushed past Seto and strode out of the study, slamming the door behind him. Seto mutely glared at the wall. His shoulders shagged and he leaned against the desk in front of him with his arms, biting into his lower lip with his canines.

"Damn him," Seto muttered. He tasted blood as he bit harder into his lip. "Damn it all to hell. I'm not so weak that I can be shaken this much by his stupid games. Why does it hurt...? It hurts..."

* * *

To be continued 

[throttles his outline] Why am I one chapter behind?! They were supposed to kiss in chapter 5! This throws off the whole outline! Argh! And where's my bloody fist fight?!

[...coughs] Um, excuse me. Anyway. Now that Osaka has been brought up... Why does Joey have that weirdest accent? As far as I can tell, Jounouchi speaks standard Japanese. From all that "Brooklyn" accent, one would think Jounouchi speaks with Kansai accent or something like that. But as sexy as Kansai accent might be, Jounouchi speaks perfectly standard Japanese. At least in those few episodes of _Yuugiou_ I watched...


	7. Ambrosia

Chapter 7: Ambrosia - Love returned

* * *

Katsuya violently pushed his apartment door open. After kicking off his shoes, Katsuya started to slam the door closed, but he reconsidered and gently eased it close instead. It wasn't the door's fault that he was in a foul mood. It did not make sense to abuse random inanimate objects any further than he had already done so just because Seto was being his typical anal self. Anyway, he might wake his father up. 

Running his hand through the tangled locks of his blond hair, Katsuya emitted a soft groan as he leaned against the door. The room was unlit, but the chaos that used to be his living room was conspicuous enough without the aid of lights. The moonlight fleetingly poured in through gaps in the torn curtain haphazardly hung only by one side, illuminating everything with odd silvery glow. The empty _sake_ bottles scattered around the room glistened.

"...Dad?" Katsuya inquired, his voice soft. He felt emotional drain after his argument with Seto, and he really did not have the energy to deal with his father, especially if he was drunk. There was no reply, confirming Katsuya's suspicions. Katsuya's eyes narrowed as he flipped up the light switch. Sudden flood of light left nothing to the imagination, and Katsuya grimaced at the grotesque appearance of the room. But he had seen worse.

Gingerly avoiding bits and pieces of broken liquor bottles, Katsuya eased the door to the bedroom open and found his father slumped over the bed. The walls were stained with alcohol that did not dry yet, and pulverized glass pieces decorated the floor of the room. There were nasty gashes on his father's arms, and some were caked with blood, while others still allowed trickle of blood to escape. There were bandages wrapped here and there around his body, Yuugi's effort without a doubt. Katsuya stepped around the broken bottles and kneeled next to his father.

"Dad."

The eyelids quivered slightly before they lifted up, revealing bloodshot eyes. "Ka... Katsuya-kun," the man croaked. Katsuya's father clung to him like a child as he started to sob. "You came back... You didn't abandon me?"

"Dad... I'll never abandon you, you know that," Katsuya muttered, his voice soft yet firm. "I know it's not your fault that you lost your job, and I don't care even if you can't earn any money. I'm not like..." Katsuya trailed off, grinding his teeth as his eyes narrowed at the thought of the woman who had given him birth. He would rather slit his throat than to call her 'mother.' He bit into his lower lip and slung his arms around his father's back instead of speaking further.

"Sit on the couch and wait until I finish cleaning up all these glass pieces, okay? And then I'll bandage you up. Do you feel light headed? Shall I call the hospital?"

Katsuya's father continued to sob, his chest heaving with the effort. "Forgive me... Forgive me, Katsuya-kun, your father is so incompetent. There is nothing I can do for you, my only son, my child--"

Katsuya fell silent and let his father cry off the alcohol, holding him tightly. Then he lightly sighed and stood up, lifting his father with him. As they slowly padded across the hallway to the living room, Katsuya quietly started, "I called you, Dad. I said I couldn't come home for few days, remember? Why did you start drinking alcohol again? You know I get sad when you hurt yourself like this."

"You'll leave me like your mother, and then I'll be left all alone." Katsuya's father started to cry again, his sobs more quiet and subdued this time. "I'm such a useless man. I should have jumped off the rooftop of my company building when I received the notice that I was no longer employed. I only cause trouble for you, Katsuya-kun."

Katsuya held the broken man in his arms. He had to be strong, for the sake of his weak father. Because his father couldn't protect himself, he had to protect not only himself, but his father as well. Against the harsh restraints of the society, against the prejudice and hatred against all those who were weak, Katsuya had to be the predator, not a prey. Katsuya lowered his head in defeat, allowed a silent and bitter smile to curve his lips, and stood up to call Seto and to apologize.

* * *

A week had passed since Seto had offered the position of a bedmate to Katsuya. Even though Seto had accepted Katsuya's apology gracefully, there was a strain between the two now. There was certain formality in how they greeted each other, how they worked together, and not one word beyond what was absolutely needed for them to work together was spoken. Katsuya wasn't sure if he was thrilled or disappointed with the change in their relationship. 

'After all,' Katsuya mused to himself, his fingers flying effortlessly atop the smooth keys of a white keyboard. 'Indifference is a dramatic improvement over patronization, isn't it?'

His finger faulted and he softly swore to himself as he corrected the document. Katsuya knew that he was only lying to himself again. At least outright patronization showed that Seto cared, that he acknowledged that Katsuya existed. But without even that reassurance, he found himself strangely anxious.

"Jounouchi?"

Katsuya immediately felt apprehensive at the free use of his family name without the typical -san attached. He tilted his head slightly, watching the man approaching him from the corner of his eyes, before he broke into a smile and stood up.

"Otogi?! What are you doing here?" Ryuuji offered his hand to Katsuya, and Katsuya eagerly shook the hand, clutching the other's hand in a firm grip. Ryuuji grinned back. He released Katsuya's hand and stepped back, solemnly regarding his friend.

"I came to see you, of course."

Katsuya would have smacked him, except he was still at work. "No, cut that out. Really. What are you doing here? I haven't heard from you for such a long time!"

Ryuuji sobered at that, even though he was still smiling. "I'm starting a branch of my arcade at Okinawa, so I thought I'd talk to the sales representative and buy some machines from the Kaiba Corporation after few modifications. It's all the way out in the suburbs, but come visit sometime, will you?" Ryuuji looked rueful. "Ever since we graduated high school, we've barely seen each other. I thought you'd have more time to hang out with me once we graduated college, but I've been in Japan for almost a month now, and you haven't called me even once."

"I was really busy lately. Sorry about that," Katsuya murmured. Ryuuji shook his head.

"No, no, it can't be helped if you're busy. You lost some weight, though. Are you all right?"

Katsuya nodded. At the beginning he disliked Ryuuji with rather passionate vigor, but he had grown close to the other man over the years. While Ryuuji was studying at England, he often wrote letters to him, and Katsuya had been touched at how caring Ryuuji could be if he had half a mind to be kind. Even now Ryuuji was worrying over him, and while Katsuya didn't particularly resent such thoughtfulness, he also hated feeling weak. He softly said, "Everyone seems vent on protecting me lately, huh."

The words were quietly spoken, but underneath the mild exterior no small amount of bitterness lay hidden, and Ryuuji caught the sarcasm right away. Worried look crossed over his eyes briefly as he kneeled forward further. "Jounouchi--"

"Jounouchi-san, I am not paying you to have class reunion during your work hours," an icy voice broke in. Katsuya hurriedly backed away from Ryuuji, his widened brown eyes focusing briefly on Seto's form before he lowered his head. Seto turned his attention to Ryuuji, his lips thinning out as he condescendingly glared at the other man. "Please do not distract our employees from their work."

"Kaiba-san, it was my fault--" Katsuya started, but Seto gave him a sharp look, which affectively shut him up. Ryuuji started to scowl and approach Seto menacingly, but Katsuya intervened, gently pushing Ryuuji out of the way. He turned to give an apologetic bow to Seto. "I'll go back to work right away. Excuse me."

Seto and Ryuuji exchanged last disgusted looks before they turned away, both of their eyes narrowed stubbornly. Ryuuji muttered something under his breath before he strode away, and Katsuya sighed with relief. He didn't need this right now. It was hard enough getting into a prestigious company like the Kaiba Corporation; he didn't need his friend to get into fist fight with Seto when he recently had a harsh verbal argument with him himself.

Katsuya startled slightly when he felt the light pressure of a hand against his shoulder. He looked up into Seto's face. For a brief moment, a raw emotion fleeted across the cold blue eyes, his feelings unmasked by his usual stoic posture. But that moment passed before Katsuya could decipher the meaning behind such an expression, and Seto asked, "Would you like to have lunch with me?"

Katsuya could only nod.

* * *

Katsuya assumed that Seto meant the company cafeteria when he asked him to eat lunch together, but Seto briskly walked out of the company building. Katsuya trailed behind Seto as they stepped out of the office, their eyes temporarily blinded by the unusually harsh sunlight of late spring. Sweet green-colored leaves offered relief from looking at small-print files all day, and Katsuya deeply breathed in the air, light smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The breeze played with the men's tresses before lightly bypassing them. The two crossed the street, mingling with other people before they separated from the crowd and headed to less populated section. 

"Welcome!" A friendly matron called out as the two entered. Seto and Katsuya sat on the corner, both of their faces partly hidden by shadows. They quickly placed their order and remained silent as they waited for their food to arrive, both nervously watching each other while pretending to look anywhere but their companion.

The lunch was simple but delicious, and Katsuya found it surprising that Seto would enjoy beef cutlet. Seto somehow struck him as a vegetarian. The idea probably came from his lean figure. "This place has really good food," Katsuya offered. Seto looked surprised, then he nodded.

"I was surprised, too. And the price is reasonable. It's quite difficult to find a place in center of Tokyo that serves _food_, much less at a reasonable place." Seto lifted one delicate eyebrow when Katsuya started to laugh into his curry. "Was it something I said?"

"You're the last person that came to my mind as someone who would worry about 'reasonable price' of food," Katsuya said, grinning. He managed to lift his face and look at Seto without cracking up again. "Thrifty, aren't we."

Seto's expression immediately stiffened, and his voice sounded weary. "Living in an orphanage teaches one all about the value of money, I would say."

Katsuya's eyes slightly widened before he lowered his eyes to the floor again. His voice was heavily ridden with guilt. "...sorry."

"It wasn't deliberate. That's all right."

Katsuya lifted his head slightly, looking at Seto through thick eyelashes, his lips trembling softly as if he wanted to say something, yet couldn't bring himself to do so. Seto opened his mouth, but closed it again. Then he stood up and paid for their food, despite Katsuya's protests that he wanted to pay for his own food.

When the two left the restaurant, Katsuya had expected for them to head back to the company. Instead, Seto bypassed the tall building and continued to walk. Confused, Katsuya continued to trail behind him. Soon the cool gray pavement gave away to light tiles, and the deciduous trees were replaced by cherry blossom trees. The trees were in their full bloom, delicate pink petals raining down upon the road underneath them. Seto slowed his pace to match his footsteps with Katsuya's, and the two watched the flowers together in companionable silence. It was the first time that silence felt so comfortable between the two of them.

"You said," Seto started. His voice was so low that Katsuya would have missed it, had it not been so quiet. There was a distant honking from a disconcerted driver few meters away, but it did not provide much of a distraction. "You said you liked me."

It was more of a statement than a question, but Katsuya nodded anyway. Seto turned his head to look directly at Katsuya. "Is that past tense or the present tense? Do you still like me? Now?"

"It's present tense, Kaiba," Katsuya replied, a resigned smile playing across his features. "Do you want to make sure of that before you make fun of me?"

Seto ignored him. "Your friend-- Otogi. You do not have feelings for him?"

"Of course not." Katsuya laughed at the idea of it. "I only like you. I'm not going to lie and say I was faithful to you all these years. I dated some girls, flirted with a lot more, found a lot of the girls cute. But... They were different. You're the only one I felt serious about. Sounds very masochistic of me, but I can't really do anything about my feelings."

Seto deeply sighed. "...why? Why do you like me?"

That question was a bit more difficult to answer. Katsuya absently brushed off a stray cherry blossom petal away from his shirt, his eyes lowered in concentration. "Because... Because you're very passionate about what you like. And... You're sometimes very gentle. When you think no one is looking, you have the kindest expression as you talk to Mokuba. And..." Katsuya lifted his head to look at Seto. Warm brown crashed against cold blue as Katsuya softly murmured, "Because you're weak. You try your best to be strong for Mokuba, but sometimes you want to cry, too. I want to protect you. Cry with you. Show my weak self to you and protect your weakness in return."

Seto wanted to laugh it off. He wanted to give a long, incredulous look to Katsuya, ask him what was wrong with his head, deny that he had a weakness of any kind. But Katsuya's expression was too serious, too sincere, and Seto ducked his head and softly said instead, "Damn you."

Katsuya chuckled, turning away. "Yeah, you always say something like that. And here I was, serious for once, spewing out all that crap--"

Katsuya was cut off as Seto caught hold of his wrist and gently spun him around. "Don't you want my answer?"

"Answer?" Katsuya parroted him, frowning slightly. "What are you talking about?"

"You confessed to me. So I have to answer you, don't I?" Seto asked. Katsuya's frown deepened. Seto lowered his head slightly. "You're an idiot with a heart bigger than his head, you talk way too much, you're stubborn and vulnerable and way too easy to read. But..."

Seto lowered his head still further until his lips almost brushed against Katsuya's lips, his eyes solemn as they directly looked upon Katsuya's eyes. "I don't dislike you. You always make me concerned, involved, and-- I'm afraid I'm attracted to you."

"...what?" Katsuya shook his head. "I don't..."

"I'm sorry I was so tactless last Thursday," Seto said. His voice was not much louder than a whisper, but Katsuya heard every word. "I-- I'm not good with relationships. I thought-- I thought if I told you that I'm willing to sleep with you, you'll automatically understand that I was fond of you. I wasn't insinuating that you're easy, or that I view you as a prostitute of sorts."

And then Seto closed the distance between them, layering their lips together in a chaste and sweet kiss. Soft lips pressed gingerly against other lips, strong arms tentatively curving around Katsuya's back and pulling him closer. The fleeting kiss quickly ended, and Seto brushed a stray cherry blossom petal out of Katsuya's hair before he slowly stepped away.

"Jounouchi Katsuya-- I have feelings for you."

* * *

To Be Continued 

The reviews made me smile a lot; thank you very much for the kind encouragements and constructive criticisms. I've been hearing comments like 'this sounds like a boy x boy graphic novel', 'you write fluidly', etc. Waa, I've been found out! Actually I'm a _doujinshi-ka_(fan comic drawer) at heart, not a writer. I focus more on the dialogues and emotion analysis, because things like the scenery are taken care of while I draw the story. I'm sorry; I'll do my best to fix that habit. . (Not that you guys were complaining about that or anything because you're all sweet, but I'm still at fault.)

Ahaha, a lot of you sympathize with Jounouchi... Actually most guys think like Kaiba. Testosterones work before the frontal cerebrum lobe says, 'Hey, it's probably not a good idea to jump the guy and screw him silly when I didn't even tell him of my feelings.' It works more like, 'Cool, he likes me! Now I can jump him!' For someone who was inexperienced with feelings of affection and relationships like Kaiba, I thought it was quite natural for him to behave like he did.

An issue my sister brought up might be of an interest to you. Borrowing her words, 'Why is Jounouchi such a chicken?' In Japan, it's quite fatal if you get fired, especially if you work in a company. Japanese culture is very group-orientated, so once you get accepted into a company, they assume that you'll work there for the rest of your life. If you've quit or got fired from a company, unless your resume is prodigiously wonderful or there were special circumstances, no company will be too thrilled to hire you. So Jounouchi, unfortunately, can not easily break Kaiba's jaw and give him the middle finger. O.o


	8. Three Roses

Chapter 8: Fully Blossomed Rose with Two Buds - Secrecy

* * *

"Jounouchi," Ryuuji solemnly said. "If you smile any wider, your jaws will unhinge and fall off of your skull."

Katsuya sheepishly laughed. He locked his fingers together and held the hand behind his head as he leaned further into his chair, ignoring his rapidly cooling coffee. "Am I that obvious? I don't like that."

"Try scowling," Ryuuji suggested. The corner of his mouth quirked as this resulted in Katsuya laughing even more. "…You really are in a good mood, aren't you."

"Yes. Yes, I am." Katsuya felt his cheek muscles tingling from all the goofy grins that adorned his lips, but he couldn't quite bring himself to stop smiling like an idiot yet. He sighed contently and turned his eyes towards the ceiling. "Half a decade of unrequited love, and my feeling was finally returned. I was pretty much convinced that that person lacked all human hormones and sex drives. I've never been so happy that I was proved wrong."

Ryuuji's expression stiffened. He chose his words carefully, struggling to make his voice neutral. "Oh? And who is this person? If you had crush on that person for five years, I would think you would've told me about that by now."

Katsuya turned his eyes back to his friend, releasing his fingers from the back of his head and bringing them around to rest them on either side of his coffee cup. There was a chime of bells, indicating another customer had entered the café. Neither of the men turned their eyes to look at the person. "How could I have told you about that person? It would've been so embarrassing that I would've curled up and died before I was able to tell you about it." Katsuya's grin returned at full force. "But hell, my feelings have been returned and there's no need to hide it now, right? It's Kaiba."

Ryuuji managed not to choke on his tea, but he scalded his tongue. He gently placed the cup back on the table and curiously looked at Katsuya. "I didn't know you were interested in guys, not to mention you were a _shoutacon_. Isn't Kaiba a bit too young for you? He's still in high school, right?"

"Not that one, silly!" Katsuya would have been insulted at being accused to be a pedophile, but nothing could spoil his current good mood. He laughed instead. "Since when did I start calling Mokuba by his last name? I'm talking about the elder. Kaiba Seto."

At that, Ryuuji did choke on his tea. "Wh-what?! But you hate him, don't you?!"

Katsuya's face tinged red as he found the rim of his coffee cup fascinating. "Nah. I hated how he made me feel, but I was nuts about the guy himself. Actually, still like him hell of a lot. I thought I grew out of it, but when I started to work for him and we were stuck together more than half of my waking hour, I realized that my feelings for him didn't die at all." He lifted his head to smile at Ryuuji, his coffee-colored eyes unusually soft and gentle. "Kaiba actually kissed me, Otogi. He said he likes me. I'm so happy…"

"He's playing with you." Ryuuji's eyes narrowed as he leaned back from the table, his lips pulsed and his countenance set. "We both know what kind of _creep_ he is, Jounouchi. Don't be another one of employees that he conquered. That guy isn't even a human."

Katsuya looked astonished. "…You're not happy for me."

"How can I be? It's Kaiba _Seto_," Ryuuji spat, as if the name burned his tongue at the mere mention of it. "Jounouchi, I was aware that you're not, ah, particularly choosy about your objects of affection. But honestly, even you know better than that."

Katsuya chewed on his bottom lip, thoughtfully staring at Ryuuji. He slowly stood up. "I'm leaving."

Ryuuji leapt up, holding Katsuya in place with his hands upon Katsuya's upper arms. "Jounouchi, listen to me! You know I would be happy for you if you really found someone nice, but Kaiba is not someone you want to mess around with! He thinks of us less than he thinks of flies! You know that—"

"You don't know anything." Katsuya's eyes were lowered, his lower lip trembling slightly. He shook his head. "I thought that… Never mind. I can't believe this."

"Jounouchi, he'll use you and throw you away," Ryuuji murmured, urgency creeping into his voice. "Please don't do that to yourself."

Katsuya's eyes flashed. He pushed Ryuuji's hands away and turned around. "Why don't you just say it without beating around the bush? If me being a queer freaks you out, tell me so without saying all kind of bad things about the person I like!"

"What?! No, Jounouchi, I—" Ryuuji watched helplessly as Katsuya walked away, then slowly sank back into his seat and buried his face into his hands. A bitter chuckle escaped him.

"Homosexuality disgusts me? But Jounouchi, there is no way that that can be possible…" Ryuuji's eyes saddened. "Because I'm in love with _you_, after all."

* * *

Katsuya gleefully shut the computer off and stood up from the chair. He stretched out his arms, loosening the tense muscles and his stiff wrists. "Then today is the last day that I work under you, right?"

"That's right. Good work," Seto dryly said, tapping against Katsuya's head lightly with the stacks of paper on his hand. Katsuya ducked and retrieved his briefcase. "Now you are on your own. Even if you mess something up, don't come crying to me."

"As if," Katsuya shot back. Seto's lips curled up into what could be called a half-smile, if one was generous enough.

"Are you free?"

"Huh? Right now?" Katsuya asked. Seto nodded. Katsuya tilted his head to the side slightly. "Yeah, but why?"

"The cherry flowers will die soon."

"…uh. So?" Katsuya felt bewildered. He hoped his face didn't reflect his feelings, because he was certain that such expression would look very unintelligent. Seto turned away and started to organize his papers.

"You wouldn't be interested in _Ohanami_(flower-viewing)?" Seto asked. He tried to sound casual, but even he could hear the faint trembling of his tone towards the end of his question. He resisted the urge to turn around to see Katsuya's expression, so he missed Katsuya's smile.

"Sure! Sounds lovely! Are we going to drink _sake(_alcoholic drink)?"

Seto breathed a sigh of relief and was finally able to turn around and give a patronizing smirk to Katsuya. "Of course not. Being under-aged children that we are, we'll have to drink milk instead, won't we?"

"Don't make fun of me," Katsuya snapped half-heartedly. He gave a quick glance around the office to make sure no one was paying attention to their corner, then quickly ducked to whisper, "Is it just me or are you asking me out on a date right now?"

Seto's eyes widened briefly before he snarled, "Get your coat and come. Else I'm going to leave you here."

"Yes sir," Katsuya replied. He failed to keep the smile out of his voice. Seto huffed and stalked out of the office, and Katsuya cheerfully followed after him. Seto could've sworn that he saw Katsuya furiously wagging his tail.

* * *

Katsuya contently sighed and leaned against the cherry tree, his eyes half-lidded. The spring sun felt warm against his exposed skin, and occasional breeze sent showers of pale pink foliages to rain down upon them. The small cup of _sake_ that he held in his hands felt cool. A cherry blossom petal landed on the surface of the alcohol, creating small waves around it. "I didn't know you had cherry blossom trees on your backyard," Katsuya murmured.

"Mokuba likes them," Seto said. His eyes were wide-open, and there was a slight frown on his face. He was sitting rigidly next to Katsuya. Katsuya cracked one of his eyes wider open and scowled at Seto.

"I'm borrowing your shoulder," Katsuya announced. He plopped his head on Seto's shoulder before the other man could protest. Seto glanced at Katsuya, then turned his eyes away and stared at the falling cherry flower petals instead. "You should relax, you know. You'll die if you keep stressing out like that."

Seto snorted. "Mokuba is old enough to take care of himself and the company. It does not really matter if I die. I do not wish for long life anyway."

Seto flinched when Katsuya smacked him right across the back of his head. "Are you dumb?! How can you say such things in front of someone that likes you?!" Katsuya barked. He rolled his eyes before resting his head against Seto's broad shoulder again. "What do I see in you anyway?"

"Shall I repeat what you said yesterday?" Seto questioned. Katsuya groaned.

"Please, spare me. I'll pass." Katsuya swirled his sake before drinking it, then picked up a piece of rice cake. "Aren't you eating anything?"

The other man glanced at the tray of food and drinks. "I'm not fond of alcohol."

"Your loss." Katsuya nibbled on the rice cake and yelped when he felt Seto resting his chin against the top of his head, his arms snaking around his waist.

"I won't mind eating you, though."

"Pervert!" Katsuya felt his cheeks coloring. "Right on your backyard, too! What if Mokuba finds us?"

Katsuya felt Seto's body becoming rigid at the mention of his younger brother. He closed his mouth, then raised his head to look at Seto. There was a strange emotion in Seto's eyes. Katsuya wasn't sure what to make out of such a look. "…Kaiba? Then Mokuba doesn't know?"

Seto heavily sighed and avoided eye contact with the other man. "I… am not quite sure how Mokuba will take our relationship. I never asked him about these things. He… may not take it too well."

Then Katsuya realized what he had seen in Seto's eyes. His fingers tentatively reached to encircle Seto's cheeks. "So you're scared that he'll be driven away from you."

Seto hesitated, then slowly nodded. Katsuya lowered his head again, leaning against Seto's warm body. His fingers reached out to play with the button of Seto's shirt. "Then you shouldn't tell him… He's important to you, isn't he?"

"I'm not ashamed of our relationship," Seto stubbornly said. Katsuya laughed.

"Neither am I, but I'm never going to tell my old man about this." He nuzzled against Seto's neck, lightly kissing the skin he found there. "My old man, you know… He wants me to bring home a sweet girl to take care of him in his old years, and cute grandchildren to play with… It'll be too cruel to rip that dream away from him."

Seto watched Katsuya's long eyelashes dampening with unshed tears. His voice started to crack. "I can't grant him that dream, but I can't tell him that he'll never have his grandchildren…"

Seto awkwardly wrapped his arms around Katsuya's shoulders. He wasn't sure how to comfort others. So he just held Katsuya close to his own body, reassuring the other by his warmth, by the touch and gentle scent permeating from his body. Katsuya lifted his face, his eyes bright with tears that he couldn't shed, and Seto leaned into kiss him without another thought.

Katsuya's lips felt soft and warm, just the way he remembered it. Seto prodded the crack between the two lips with the tip of his tongue, and the lips willingly opened up underneath his. Seto pushed Katsuya down with his weight, the tree against Katsuya's back shaking slightly and shedding more pink petals as their kiss deepened. The two tongues mingled together, saliva mixing until it was indistinguishable from each other's. Katsuya tasted faintly of alcohol and sweetness of red beans, both of taste which Seto hated.

Strangely enough, the taste wasn't half-bad when he tasted it from Katsuya's mouth. It was kind of nice together like that…

Seto broke the kiss, slowly pulling away from Katsuya's lips, his arms still protectively around the other man's body. Seto rested his forehead against Katsuya's forehead. Katsuya was breathing a bit heavy, his lips swollen and wet. "Don't tell him," Seto muttered. Katsuya slowly nodded.

"It'll also be bad if it's known that you're gay, right? It'll severely dampen your business," Katsuya softly said. Seto felt a lump in his throat. But of course. Parents wouldn't want toys made by 'perverts' like homosexuals. Katsuya started to laugh. "What were we thinking when we decided that we liked each other? There is no way that this can work out…"

"I'll _make_ it work out," Seto furiously said. Katsuya looked at him, not a little surprised. Seto looked down at the smaller man, a determined light in his eyes. "I don't start something that I can't finish. Others' opinions don't matter. We'll keep our relationship a secret. You're okay with that, aren't you?"

Katsuya's eyes softened. He reached up to lightly kiss Seto's cheek. "It'll always be a secret."

* * *

To be Continued

Aa-- The last sentence sounded bad in English. In the original version, Jounouchi said, "_Zutto naisho da yo_." It somehow sounded really cute to me, like something that children will say. English just can't convey that cute feeling… X3

Shotacon, also known as 'Shoutaro Complex', is having a fetish for little boys, usually before their puberty. The opposite of this would be roricon(Lolita Complex), in which one is obsessed with little girls. In short, it's pedophilia. But shotacon or roricon is not necessary a fetish in a sexual, perverted way. In can also be just an extreme penchant for little boys and girls—an intense feeling of 'like'.

The newest episode of Yuugiou left me pretty much saying 'What the f---?!' for the most of the episode(probably because I missed so many episodes between the newest one and the last one that I watched). [laughs] It's about the other Yuugi's past as the Egyptian pharaoh. Tanned version of Bakura and Kaiba were very disturbing, as well as the human version of some of the dual monsters… But I liked the new opening song. Angst-ridden Kaiba is always fun. I just realized that Kaiba is probably my favorite character in Yuuigou! Yada na! . I always have the misfortune of liking the assholes and/or idiots…


	9. Garden Chervil

Chapter 9: Garden Chervil - Sincerity

* * *

Katsuya skipped across the water puddles, his suitcase above his head in an attempt to block out the rain. The weather had been cloudy all day, but it was just his luck that it started to rain heavily when he left the office building. As it was, Katsuya was soaked anyway, and he was wondering if it was a good idea to wet his suit and briefcase like this. He really didn't favor the idea of spending his money to get a new suit and briefcase.

"Jounouchi?"

Katsuya skidded to a stop at the familiar voice. Squinting to see through the wet strands of blond hair covering his eyes and water dripping down his face, Katsuya broke into a smile when he confirmed the identity of the person. He jogged over to Seto. Seto had a typical frown on his face, sunglasses draped over his sapphire-colored eyes. Why Seto felt compelled to wear sunglasses when it was a cloudy day was beyond Katsuya, but Katsuya didn't comment on the eyewear as he slipped under the umbrella with Seto.

"Why are you walking? Where's your car?" Katsuya asked, brushing damp hair away from his face. Seto hesitated before slowly replying,

"I like the rain, and I often walk home at the end of my day. I like being inconspicuous."

So Seto liked rain, beef cutlet, and Mokuba. Katsuya felt privileged; he was certain he was the one who knew most about Seto besides Mokuba. "I like the sun," Katsuya chirped. "I don't like rain, because it makes my clothes wet. I never watch the weather news, so I always get caught in the rain and end up with a cold. Being drenched is not fun, you know."

"That sounds just like you," Seto retorted. Katsuya wasn't sure if that was meant to be an insult or not, because the tone sounded almost affectionate. So for a good measure he gave a light punch to Seto's arm. His briefcase started to slip from his hand, and Katsuya shifted his grip. He was surprised to find his hands numb from cold.

"The spring rain is colder than it looks," Katsuya commented, smiling. Seto's eyebrows shot up questioningly, and he lowered his sunglasses to look at Katsuya. For the first time he noticed that Katsuya's lips were turning blue, and his hands were red. His suit was clinging to his body, and he looked like a pathetic drenched puppy. Seto lightly sighed before he took Katsuya's free hand with his own. Katsuya startled.

"…Kaiba? People might see us."

"I doubt anyone is paying attention to us; they're too busy trying to get out of the rain." Seto's hand felt surprisingly warm, and Katsuya felt warmth creeping up his arm at the contact. He lowered his head to hide the faint pink that was dying his cheeks as they held hands and slowly walked. He was embarrassed and surprised at the tenderness that Seto was showing. "How long does it take you to reach home?"

"About forty minutes, if I walk," Katsuya answered. "Thirty minutes if I run."

Katsuya tried not to shiver, but he ended up doing so anyway. It was really starting to be cold. He didn't notice how cold he was when the rain was soaking him, but now that he was under an umbrella it felt really cold. "Why don't you stop by my house and warm up before you head home? You'll catch a pneumonia at this rate," Seto solemnly said. Katsuya looked up at Seto, surprised.

"…Kaiba, don't be too nice, even if you're my boyfriend. You're starting to scare me. You know what they say about a man acting strange right before he dies."

Seto lightly squeezed Katsuya's hand that he was holding. "Look who's being morbid. It's all right when you talk about my death, but it's not fine if I talk about it?"

Katsuya did the most appropriate thing he could have done at the moment. He stuck his tongue out. "Don't take it literally; it's just an old saying."

Seto pulled his hand away from Katsuya's hand to take out a cardkey, swiping it against the slot next to his front gate. The door opened to reveal a second door, and Katsuya curiously watched as Seto had his eye scanned to open the door.

"You rich people just have to make everything complicated, huh?" Katsuya dryly asked when the third door appeared. Seto didn't reply; he simply chuckled lightly as he pressed his hand against the screen and waited for the computer to acknowledge his fingerprint. He ushered Katsuya inside, where a wide garden stretched out endlessly. Katsuya made a face. He was sure Seto's mansion wasn't this big when he had visited it back in high school days. The house looked even more intimidating now than it did then. Or maybe it just felt so large because his friends weren't with him this time. When he had visited the house few weeks ago, he didn't see the front entrance because he had been asleep, so he had no basis for comparison.

After a short walk, they reached the mansion itself. Without bothering to take off his coat, Seto strode over to the fireplace to start a fire. Within minutes a crackling, merry fire was in full blaze, and Katsuya settled in front of the fireplace to enjoy the warmth. Seto left the living room, only to return shortly with a big towel and a sleeping robe. He started to scrub Katsuya's hair dry.

"It hurts," Katsuya whined half-heartedly. Seto ignored him and continued to towel him dry, dabbing moisture out of his cheeks and neck. He started to loosen his clothes. Katsuya nervously gulped and gently pushed Seto away.

"I'll do it," Katsuya hurriedly said to Seto's questioning look. Seto wordlessly turned away and started to take off his own coat and outer coat while Katsuya stripped himself of clothes and hurriedly wiped away moisture from his body. He pulled the cherry-red bathrobe on, and was surprised to find that this one actually fit him. He assumed that it was Mokuba's. Finished with dressing, Katsuya turned around to find Seto… gone.

"Okay, whatever…" Katsuya settled in front of the fire again. His hair was slightly damp, but he felt warm and sleepy. He didn't even flinch when he felt arms wrapping around his waist.

"I've brought you some tea," Seto quietly said. Katsuya leaned against Seto, basking in his warmth.

"You're being uncharacteristically sweet. Are you always this nice to Mokuba?"

"I dry him and feed him tea when he's drenched with rain, if that is what you're asking," Seto curtly said. Katsuya grinned against his chest. Oh, look, Seto was embarrassed. That didn't happen everyday.

Katsuya gave a light kiss to Seto's neck, which was the skin closest to his mouth. He had to strain his neck to see Seto, but it was worth it. "You don't have to be embarrassed. I'm your sweetheart, aren't I? I won't tell anyone that mean old Kaiba is actually a sap inside."

"Jounouchi, don't be dumb," Seto snapped. He couldn't quite hide the blush that was starting to creep up his cheeks, and Katsuya was delighted.

"Kaiba, are you blushing?"

"Shut up," Seto grumbled, turning his head away. Katsuya completely turned his body around to look at Seto, his grin even widening.

"Aw, look at our Seto-kichi blushing! Look at our cute little Seto-kichi…"

Seto decided this was a very good time to shut Katsuya up, so he did. Katsuya's eyes slightly widened as Seto's lips crushed his, but he soon relaxed into the kiss, wrapping his slender fingers around Seto's cheeks to bring his face closer. Seto pulled away sooner than Katsuya would have liked. His expression was grim.

"…Jounouchi, if you continue this, I'll eat you up."

Katsuya poked Seto's cheek with his index finger. "That's what I had in mind."

Seto sighed. "Can't you be serious? Once we cross the line, I won't let you go. You must realize that I'm not an ideal lover." He set his hands on Katsuya's shoulders. "I won't be here often for you. I'm always busy, and there may be many lonely days where I don't return to you for days. When you are sad, I probably won't be there to offer you a shoulder to cry upon. When you're hurt, I'll be too busy to kiss your wound and make you feel better. When you're scared, I'll probably be in middle of a business meeting, instead of embracing you."

"But this will always be here with me, won't it?" Katsuya softly asked, patting Seto's chest, where his heart was beating. "Your body is but an empty vessel to contain your soul. Your chipped and scarred soul… If you would give me a piece of it, I'll always keep it with me. That's all I really need. I can wait for your physical body. I can wait and wait and wait some more, because I know you'll surely return."

Katsuya managed a boyish grin. "I'm surprisingly patient."

That was all the encouragement Seto needed before he gently pushed Katsuya down to the floor.

* * *

Katsuya had been rendered immobile after their tryst, so he stayed in Seto's bed while Seto fussed over him. Katsuya was amazed at how sweet Seto could be if he felt like it, and was starting to envy Mokuba for being able to see this side of Seto for so long. Seto had washed him, dried him, and dressed him, and Katsuya was currently plopped on his bed with Seto's arms wrapped around his body. It felt strange for Katsuya to be pampered so much, because normally he was the one who took care of his little sister. But it did feel nice to let Seto do everything for him, to be completely dependant upon someone.

"I'll have to go home soon," Katsuya softly said. His throat felt hoarse. Seto shifted a little to look down at him.

"Can't you call your father and say you're staying over at a friend's house?"

"And we tell Mokuba I'm having a sleep-over with you?" Katsuya dryly asked. "I don't think that'll really work."

"You're the one who can't walk," Seto retorted. "Mokuba rarely comes to my room, and even if he does, I'll tell him that I found you drunk and passed out on the streets again."

"Hey!" Katsuya complained. He watched Seto playing with his fingers, and for the first time realized that Seto's hands were much bigger than his own. Seto's fingers were long and slender, while his skin was very pale and smooth. His nails were oval-shaped and faint orchid in color. Surely, such elegant hands were better suited for artistic work, rather than be used for typing computer programs all day. Katsuya curled his own fingers; his fingers were stubby and the skin covering his hands were rough and tanned. It did not flatter his hand to be lying next to such a pretty hand like Seto's.

"Kaiba, do you paint?"

Seto curiously looked at the smaller man. "No. Mokuba is the one who likes to draw and paint. Why?"

"Your hand is too pretty for it to be typing keyboards all day," Katsuya said, smiling up at him. Seto was about to make some sort of reply, but was interrupted by a faint melody. Katsuya's face lit up. "Hey, cool, my cell phone still works after being wet!"

Seto sighed. "You are so stupid… Is it in your pants pocket?"

Katsuya nodded. Seto stood up and retrieved the cell phone for him. Katsuya answered the phone. "Hello, this is Jounouchi."

"Katsuya-kun, didn't you say you would come home early?"

"Hi, Dad," Katsuya said. He glanced at Seto. Seto shrugged and buried his face in Katsuya's neck. "Sorry, it was raining so much that I decided to wait until the rain stopped. Should I come home right now?"

Katsuya's father sounded relieved. "Oh, that's all right. As long as you're safe. You seem to be working too much lately, Katsuya-kun. Don't push it."

"Yes sir," Katsuya easily replied. Seto tried to slip his hand inside Katsuya's shirt. He swatted the hand away.

"Or is there another reason why you're staying late so often? Is there a nice girl at the office, Katsuya-kun?" Katsuya's face darkened at the hopeful tone. Katsuya's father continued, "If you meet anyone, please bring her home and introduce me. I'm very proud that you've got a good job and you're doing a man's work now. I'll whole-heartedly support any relationship you may have, so don't hide her from me."

Katsuya uneasily laughed. "Oh, no, Dad. No girl. If I meet a nice girl, I'll introduce you to her right away."

"Then I'll see you later."

"Sure, Dad."

Katsuya shut the cell phone off. There was a silence, then Katsuya turned around and fiercely hugged Seto. Seto, a bit surprised, gingerly hugged him back.

"I won't ever regret my decision. I like you so much, Kaiba," Katsuya murmured against Seto's chest. Katsuya was trembling. Seto patted the unruly locks of his hair, his fingers tangling into the golden strands. "But why does this hurt so much?"

A single tear escaped Katsuya's eyes.

"It hurts…"

* * *

To Be Continued

Uu. Please forgive me for the lack of update last week; I had my finals. This chapter also had rather H(erotic) material, so I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I'm awful at writing H. This is the happy, clean version for ff.net. If you want to read the version with all the sex in it, you can go to my profile and visit my website or join the yahoo group. The uncut chapter should be there. X.x (Somehow it's really embarrassing…) Please excuse the awful nickname Seto-kichi; I couldn't quite resist.

Right now I'm obsessed with the newest _Yuugiou_ opening theme, "Overlap". I like KIMERU-san so much! I've been listening to "Overlap" and "Motherland"(by Crystal Key, the newest _Hagane no Renkinjutsushi_ ending theme) until my ears ached. . If you know _Tennis no Oujisama_, you might know that KIMERU-san sang "You Got Game?" and "Make you Free". He also played the role of Fuji Shuusuke and Echizen Ryoma for the _Musical Tennis no Oujisama_. He's so cool. Waa, I want KIMERU-san's CD!

Eh. By "original version", I mean the draft I wrote in Japanese. Usually when I write stories, I make a general outline in Japanese, then write more detailed outline for each chapter in Japanese. Then I might write the rough draft in Japanese or English. The final draft is always in English, though, because my Japanese typing skill sucks, and my keyboard isn't Japanese compatible anyway. [laughs]


	10. Honeysuckle

Chapter 10: Honeysuckle – Generous and Devoted Affection

* * *

The phone was ringing, and Katsuya was prepared to commit homicide. The phone ringing at 2 AM in the morning, right after he had consummated his relationship with his crush of five years, would make even the mildest mannered man feel murderous rage. String of obscenities escaping his still sore throat, Katsuya blindly swiped at his bedside table until his cell phone came within his grasp.

"This better be good, or else I'll f---ing kill you," Katsuya growled as soon as he managed to flip his phone open. It wasn't the standard greeting when one answered his phone, but this was definitely not the standard time to call someone, either.

"…You'd better do something about that foul mouth of yours," the evil caller finally said. There was a sound of shifting on the other end, and then Katsuya faintly heard the phone being covered as the person on the other end said something to his companion.

"Kaiba, I know you have problems. But _don't_ call me at 2 AM in the morning," Katsuya groaned, plopping back into the bed. His eyes started to drift closed again.

"You did know that I assumed the position of the corporation president as soon as I finished training you, right?"

Right, go ahead and ignore him. Who cares about what Katsuya said anyway?

"You might know of this. The new duel discs—"

"—Give players serious cramp on their wrist and stress their upper arm muscle due to their weight, in exchange for better holograms. Yeah, I knew that," Katsuya said. He yawned, then rubbed at his eyes to wipe the tears away. "You called me at this hour just to tell me that? I work at your company, you know."

"No. A substitute metal for the main computer chip was found, so I need to go and confirm its usefulness. It's an American branch of our laboratories, so I will be gone for few days." There was a silence, then Seto softly added, "I thought you might want to see me before I left."

Katsuya sat up at that, even though he still felt sleepy. "Kaiba… You just had to leave at this hour, didn't you? Do you live for the sole purpose of torturing me?"

"Not really," Seto thoughtfully replied. "Yesterday I discovered that rather than making fun of you, it's more entertaining to—"

"Don't continue! Don't say it!" Katsuya frantically said. He threw a glance at his closed door, then slipped out of his bed and started to shrug his sleeping clothes off. The cold morning air made him shiver. He stuck the cell phone in the crook between his chin and neck, struggling to button his shirt. "Where are you?"

"Right outside your home."

"What?!" Katsuya stopped buttoning his shirt and walked over to the window. He pressed his forehead and looked outside. Seto, true to his words, was outside, looking up at his window. Katsuya heavily sighed and resumed buttoning his shirt. "You had this all planned, didn't you. Did I mention that I hate you?"

"Numerous times. If you won't come out, I'm leaving," Seto replied. Katsuya could hear the smirk in his voice and rolled his eyes. But the annoyed expression was soon wiped away, only to be replaced by a mischievous smile.

"Catch."

Before Seto had a chance to decipher such strange statement, Katsuya had thrown open his bedroom window and had leapt towards the ground. Out of reflex, Seto tossed his phone away and stepped closer to Katsuya. Strong arms wrapped themselves around Katsuya's waist, and Seto stumbled back before he regained his balance. Katsuya was triumphantly grinning, his long legs dangling beneath him as he reached with playful hands to wrap his fingers around Seto's cheeks.

"Hey."

"You loser dog!" Seto exploded, his blue eyes instantly lighting up in a fiery blaze. "What is the meaning of this? Do you wish to die?"

"It was only the second floor; the worst thing that could have happened was that I would have broken a bone or two." Katsuya pulled at Seto's cheek with his fingers until he managed to make the stern lips form a crooked smile, even though Seto's forehead was crinkled in a frown. All in all, it made a pretty funny picture. Katsuya managed to hold back his laughter. "I had to get out without waking my dad, and that's kind of hard with what you've done to my lower body the other day. Besides, you've caught me, right?"

"I might have not!"

"But I believe you."

Seto stared at the other man dumbfounded. Katsuya pulled away from Seto and lightly landed on the floor. "If I fall, you'll support me. Right?"

Seto suddenly realized that his blood pressure must have risen, because he felt the back of his neck tingling. His vein throbbed. He grind out, "You are an idiot."

"You won't support me?"

"I do not see the point of this conversation. There is no way that I'll let you get hurt." Seto looked displeased that he had been forced to admit something of that nature, but Katsuya himself was delighted. He glanced around him to make sure no one was looking, then he stood on tiptoes and quickly pecked Seto's cheek.

"Will you be able to call me?"

Seto felt a strange pang at the hopeful glint in Katsuya's eyes. When he had parted with Katsuya right before sudden disappearance of the 'other Yuugi', all he could think about while he was at America was Katsuya. The way Katsuya's lowered eyes slightly trembled, the way he softly yet mournfully said 'Kaiba…', the way his eyes were soft with hurt… But the hope-filled eyes were even more painful to him, because he knew he could not always answer that wish.

Unfortunately, not everything could be bought with money.

"I doubt I can call you. It is too easy to intercept a call, especially an international one." Seto hoped that his professional tone would mollify his smaller lover, but his nonchalant tone had the opposite affect he had wished for. Katsuya immediately lowered his eyes, corners of his mouth dragging down. Seto hurriedly amended. "But I will e-mail you at your company address. That's all right, isn't it?"

"Sure, whatever." Katsuya's expression brightened somewhat. He turned away, but Seto caught his shoulder and gently spun him around. Soft lips searched out their partner, and the chaste kiss was followed by another kiss to his forehead.

"You said you'd wait for me, right?" Seto asked, his eyes solemn. Without waiting for an answer, he turned around and started to walk away.

Katsuya numbly watched his turned back, his fingers feeling the lips that had been kissed. Then he finally managed, "Have a safe trip."

Few seconds passed, and Seto continued to walk. Katsuya was starting to think that Seto had not heard him, and was about to repeat himself in a louder voice when Seto softly replied.

"I'll be right back."

* * *

Mingle of scream, laughter, and some kind of horror background music. The early summer air was thick and heavy, and it was so full of moisture that it was unpleasant enough breathing, much less staring at ghosts and monsters. And it was dark.

"Shizuka… Can we please go?" Katsuya asked. He didn't understand why, of all things, his cute and sweet little sister would find ghost houses so thrilling. And ever lovely Kaiba Seto had made the hologram ghosts and monsters as realistic as the duel monster holograms. That man really did have serious issues to resolve, to spend so much money and time to make all these special effects.

Shizuka gave him a pretty pout. "But Oniichan, we're almost towards the end! It'll take longer for us to go back to the entrance than to find the exit. And I want to see the rest. Please?"

Who was he to defy his sister? "All right, but no more ghost houses after this one. You know your oniichan is terrified of these places." Katsuya tried to dismiss the last statement with a little laugh, but he couldn't quite hide the tremor that verified the statement's truthfulness. Shizuka looked up at her brother with a smile that would win over even the strongest of men.

"Don't worry, Oniichan! Shizuka will protect Oniichan no matter what!"

Jounouchi Katsuya was convinced that he must be the luckiest older brother alive to have such a cute sister. "Shizuka…"

But whatever Katsuya was about to say was forgotten, because suddenly a demon popped up behind Shizuka. Katsuya wasn't sure if it was a hologram or a disguised person, but the hideous green skin, huge single eye, and two horns complete with venomous grin was enough to drive Katsuya screaming out of the ghost house, protesting Shizuka's hand firmly grasped in his hand.

"Ugyaaaaa!!!"

"Oniichan! Wait! Look, a water ghost! Kyaa, look at that realistic vengeful spirit! Oniichan, I want to see—"

Sunlight poured into their eyes. Ignoring the attendant's polite 'I hope you had a pleasant time', Katsuya blindly ran down the stairway. He finally skidded to a stop few meters away from the exit of the ghost house and finally noticed his sister gasping for breath. She was also trying to laugh, but lack of oxygen was not helping her.

"Oniichan! Haaa… aa… It wasn't _that_ scary."

"I'm going to have a long talk with Kaiba when he comes back," Katsuya shot back, scowling. "When he said he put a lot of work into Kaiba Land, I didn't think he'll do _this_ kind of things! What was he _thinking_?!"

Shizuka finally managed to even her breath and took hold of Katsuya's hand again. "But it was fun." She gave a delighted laugh at Katsuya's expression. "It feels like we're children again. I rarely meet Oniichan, so I'm so happy right now. Lately Oniichan was so busy with his work. Shizuka was lonely, you know?"

Katsuya bit into his lower lip. "Sorry…"

"No, no, I don't want an apology. Let's have lots and lots of fun today!" Shizuka's eyes darted over surrounding rides and games. "Do you want to eat something?"

Katsuya nodded. The siblings slowly walked towards the food stands, chatting about their school and workplace, about people they met and small incidents that occurred in the time that they didn't meet each other. Shizuka sat across from Katsuya. "You seem so happy, Oniichan. Yuugi-san was saying that, too. Did something happen?"

Katsuya felt burning on his cheeks. He fervently hoped that he was not blushing. "Not really. Getting a job itself was a very good thing for me, wasn't it?"

"No, it's not that," Shizuka playfully chided. "It's a love interest, isn't it?"

At Katsuya's silence and at the furious red color that dyed her brother's cheeks, Shizuka found that she had hit right on target. She happily clapped her hands. "Oniichan! Who is it? Oh, congratulations! You must introduce that person to me!"

"You- You can't tell anyone, okay?!" Katsuya stammered, finally lifting his face. "I can't introduce that person to you right now because—Well, maybe I'll show that person to you later. But we're working at the same company, so if any rumor spreads, it'll be really bad for us. Promise to keep this a secret?"

"Of course. Then tell me about that person whenever you're ready to tell me, Oniichan," Shizuka sweetly said, and Katsuya heaved a sigh of relief. He gave her an awkward smile.

"Thanks. I will."

Shizuka nodded in return. The food that they had ordered had arrived, and they ate in companionable silence. Katsuya stopped shoving food down his throat when a thought occurred to him. "Shizuka, why would you be talking to Yuugi? Isn't he very busy?"

"I met him when I went to see you at father's home," Shizuka said. "Lately, you're staying away from home very often. Combine that with how happy you look lately, we concluded that you must have found someone you like. But truthfully, Yuugi-san himself looks very happy lately, too, doesn't he?"

"Because, you know, he got his other half back." Katsuya waved his free hand dismissively. "It was really awful when the other Yuugi was away, how Yuugi moped and refused to eat and cried all the time. I'm happy that the other Yuugi returned, even if he doesn't belong in our time. I couldn't do anything for Yuugi myself."

Shizuka softly smiled. "Oniichan really does like Yuugi-san a lot, doesn't he."

"Because Yuugi pulled me out of the darkness." The hamburger lay forgotten on his hands as Katsuya stared down at the table, embarrassed. "If I never met with Yuugi, I'll probably be somewhere down at Shinjuku with the Yakuza right now. Yuugi was the light for me, and he took me to a world I've never been in before. I can't help but wish to protect him, because he's such a precious person."

Katsuya's eyes softened as he added, "I was hoping to pull that person out of darkness, too. I'm not sure if I succeeded, but I want to be light for that person, too…"

Shizuka didn't ask who 'that person' was. She instead pressed her dainty hand against her brother's cheek, causing him to look up at her. "I'm sure you're a light to that person," Shizuka reassured him. "Surely."

Katsuya smiled back. "Yeah."

* * *

"I'm glad to hear that the new chips are of a use," Mokuba brightly said. He was in the middle of doing his homework, but had pushed the books aside in favor of talking to the elder Kaiba. He was drawing faces on his notebook as he talked. A 'no' character, another 'no', a 'mo'—

"The shipment should be arriving at the main branch by noon tomorrow. While I'm at America, is there anything else that needs to be checked upon?" Seto's curt voice at the other end asked. Mokuba rolled his eyes towards the ceiling in a deep thought. After a brief pause, he shook his head.

"No, I believe not. There was that arcade in Los Angeles that was giving trouble, but I think we took care of that. When do you think you'll be able to return to the company? Even if I'm the vice president, I still have lots of school work to do, so I can't handle things here very much longer." Mokuba twirled the pen in his hands before adding a 'tsu' underneath the 'mo'.

"Late tomorrow. At the latest, I should be home two days from today. There are still some simulations of the holograms that need to be tested, and I can only verify the quality of the substitute myself." There was a rustle at the other end. "You are finished with your schoolwork by now, correct?"

Mokuba glanced at his unfinished Japanese history essay. He shoved it out of the way. "Uh, sure!"

"Remember that you have college entrance exams coming up soon. You mustn't fall behind your studies. If the corporation work is hindering your school studies in any way, you must inform me of it at once."

"Of course, Niisama." Mokuba had pushed too hard when he was moving his essay out of the way. With a most terrific noise, books, files, and duel monster cards fell from his desk to the floor. Mokuba fervently hoped that his brother hadn't heard the sound at the other end.

Fortunately, Seto didn't comment on the sound. Mokuba bent down and started to pick up his textbook when Seto brought up quite an unexpected topic. "Have you seen Jounouchi lately? How is he doing?"

"He's fine," Mokuba said. He grimaced when he found the edge of his Blue Eyes White Dragon card crinkled underneath all the books that fell on top of it. He tried to straighten the edge out. "He's kind of overworking himself again, but it's not as bad as last time. And anyway, he's in a really good mood lately. Why are you asking, Niisama? I thought you and Jounouchi no Niichan had rather strong animosity against each other."

Seto snorted. "That was when we were mere children. He is part of our corporation now, and furthermore, it would be shameful to me if the employee I had personally trained failed to do good work."

"Niisama, were you asking just so you can tease and bully Jounouchi no Niichan again?" Mokuba asked in an exasperated voice. He found the novel he was supposed to read for Japanese class. There was a brief pause at the other end.

"Perhaps. Good night, Mokuba, and do not stay up too late."

With that, Seto had hung up. Mokuba gave an indignant sound and glared at the phone. But his scowl was soon replaced by a smile and he gave a pat to the phone. "Good night to you, too, Niisama. Come home soon."

* * *

To Be Continued

…I have grown extremely fond of Kaiba. As depressing as this thought is, he is yet another idiot and/or asshole that I have grown to like. That 'Wahahaha!!!' laughter! That conceited smirk! That idiotic belief that he's the best duelist ever! And most of all, extreme brother complex, along with 'makeinu'! What is not to be fond of this idiotic antisocial jerk? [smiles]

Right now Shiro is in 'moeruze! BURNING!' mode over Yuugiou, but unfortunately not fan fiction-wise. Actually I have grown very fond of Yuugiou doujinshi(fan comics), so I have been visiting various Japanese/Korean websites. And the result of this newest obsession was fondness for Wyuugi! Somehow most Japanese/Korean fans call Omote Yuugi 'hime-sama'(princess), so I think I'll call him as 'hime-sama', too. Because… he's just so cute! (Shiro, don't say such dangerous things…)

Aaaa! Shachou-sama! I'd forgotten that in Toei version, he used to have green hair! [falls off his chair laughing] That… that bright neon-green hair, along with white school uniform! His violent and psychotic nature! No wonder I used to think Kaiba was stupid. (Actually, he's still stupid… But he seems more normal now.) But my favorite voice actor of all times, Midorikawa Hikaru-sama, voice acted for Kaiba in the Toei version, so I was very excited. And Omote Yuugi's voice was so cute! Surely, that is the voice of a true uke! (What are you saying?) It's unfortunate that the Yuugiou: Duel Monsters version made Yuugi's voice so much deeper. (Even though it made the Pharaoh-sama's voice cooler, I guess…)

The ending note has been nothing but useless babbles. Please forgive me. [bows]


	11. Bee Ophrys

Chapter 11: Bee Ophrys – Error, Mistake

* * *

"I like you."

There was a brief silence, in which Katsuya paused stuffing himself with strawberry cheesecake and whipped cream pastries. Then he slowly looked up to the man sitting across from him, his cheeks still bulging with sweets. "…Huh?"

Ryuuji was staring at the cup of tea in front of him. "From a while back, I… liked you. Since the first time we met, I--"

"What are you talking about?" Katsuya interrupted. "You—You hated me when we first met. Or at the very least, thought I was a worthless scum. And the one who like was Shizuka-chan, wasn't it?"

Ryuuji slowly shook his head. He looked up from his tea and sadly smiled at Katsuya. "Why did you think I wanted you to myself for a week? Rather strange punishment for losing the duel, don't you think…? And as for your sister… She's very lovely person, but…" He turned his head away. "I faked interest in her because I wanted to be near you. The one I liked was you."

"…"

Katsuya uncertainly placed both of his hands around his cup. He lightly sighed and opened his mouth, but Ryuuji held up his hand to silence him. He still refused to meet eyes with the other.

"I'm not expecting anything from you. I just wanted you to know. You don't have to answer, and I won't force my feelings upon you. We can remain friends. But if you are ever alone and you need a shoulder to rest your head upon…"

Katsuya extended his hand to lightly rest it against Ryuuji's arm. His eyes were serious as he quietly said, "Thank you."

He didn't need to add that that would never happen; that the only person he ever liked and ever will like was Seto. Both knew that Katsuya would only think of Ryuuji as a friend. But to speak such things out loud was too cruel. Ryuuji stood up, brushing his long hair out of his eyes as he gave Katsuya a faint smile.

"Well, I feel better now that I got it off my chest. Be happy, and if Kaiba ever is mean to you, just tell me and I'll beat him up for you."

"I'll beat him up myself. You can come and help," Katsuya said, and both lightly chuckled at that. Katsuya watched Ryuuji's turned back as he left the store until he was out of sight, then he slowly sat back down and lowered his head.

"…sorry…"

* * *

With a rather heavy heart Katsuya walked back to his home. Back when he was part of a gang during his years of high school, he didn't have any feelings. When a girl confessed her feelings to him and he gently but firmly rejected her, all he felt for her were same sympathies he would feel for a stray cat. When there was a fight and he broke nearly all of his ribs, his anger had been as much annoyance that could be aroused by a piece of log blocking his way. But meeting with Yuugi invoked much warmer feelings inside of him, and meeting with Seto made him passionately angry for the first time.

When Katsuya first met Seto, he was the worst of creeps. His hair dyed green because Gozaburou wanted Seto to look like his real son, Noa, and wearing white uniform when everyone else's uniform was blue, Seto acted like a selfish child and caused Yuugi to be hurt. At that time Katsuya thought he'd never forgive him. But as time passed, he caught himself feeling emotions that were different from anger and disgust. He had learned to feel, and it frightened him.

Knowing how much he probably hurt Ryuuji by his rejection made him wish that he once again couldn't feel. He wished he couldn't notice the trembling green eyes, the forced smile on his lips. But he was able to notice all these things, and understand how much pain one-sided love caused. And this saddened him.

"Jounouchi…"

Katsuya almost walked past Seto. Seto had been leaning against a telephone pole near his home, as if he was waiting for him. Katsuya abruptly stopped, his eyes widening in shock.

"Kaiba…?"

"Yaa."

"It's not 'yaa'!" Katsuya barked. He acted like he was angry to cover up the fact that he was really happy to see Seto again. He was so happy that his heart felt like it would burst. "You didn't tell me anything about returning to Japan today! If you'd called, I would've went to the airport to meet you, you know, and—"

"And reveal to the press that I have a boyfriend. Good thinking, idiot," Seto mocked, corner of his well-shaped lips curling up into a cruel smile. But his mockery didn't hold the acidity it usually contained, and it wasn't because the thorn was softened by his affection for the other man. Katsuya immediately grew concerned.

"…Kaiba? What's wrong?" He asked, stepping closer to Seto. Seto's expression slightly faltered.

"A very liable source informed me that the merge of S-nrio and B-ndai was a certainty. As soon as I heard that, I checked up upon the business contracts and private meetings, and all seemed to be in order. They really seemed like B-ndai would sell out to S-nrio. I had no choice. I flew to Japan at once and…"

Katsuya's face darkened more and more as Seto's voice became more quiet and deadly. Katsuya shook his head, not wanting to hear the rest, but Seto continued.

"…I pulled all the stocks that were under my control for B-ndai. I destroyed it. If it was going to be a threat to me, I was going to obliterate it."

"Kaiba…"

Seto was starting to tremble. The thousands of family he ruined because of a failed company. The rush of press personals that would rush like vultures after carcasses. The whispers of his cruelty, at the ruthlessness of the Kaiba Corporation. This was not the first time that he faced such things, but he didn't want to show this side of himself to Katsuya. He didn't want to show this to Mokuba. He didn't…

"Kaiba."

Strong voice, unlike the uncertain one that called out his name before. Seto looked down, ice-cold blue eyes crashing into warm brown eyes that bore into his own. Katsuya slowly reached out until his hands rested on Seto's cheek.

"It's not your fault."

Seto harshly pushed Katsuya's hands away, his eyes narrowing. "What do you know about this?! Do you… Do you have any idea how this feels? I'm becoming a dictator, just like _that_ man was, and Mokuba was so hoping that I'll return to the big brother he remembered and loved in childhood; the kind Seto that no longer exists!"

Katsuya stubbornly lifted his hands again, resting them against Seto's cheeks again. He gently pulled them away, then slapped them against Seto's cheeks rather harshly so that loud slapping noise was produced.

Seto clutched at his stinging cheek, his eyes slightly widened as his cheeks slowly started to turn red from the abuse. Katsuya slowly stepped back. "I want to be a strength to you… But why are you keep pushing me away? I can't do anything for you if you try to shoulder all the burden by yourself… Don't you trust me? Don't you trust Mokuba?"

Seto's eyes flashed in anger again.

"Listen here, you—you proletariat—"

"No, you listen," Katsuya snapped back. "No one except you expect you to be perfect, okay? You had no choice! I don't think of you as a monster, and neither will Mokuba because he really does like you and he understands you better than you think!"

Katsuya lightly sighed and glanced at his apartment. There were lights in the rooms, indicating that his father was home. He took hold of Seto's hand.

"What are you doing?!"

"We're going to go eat sukiyaki with lots and lots of meat," Katsuya said as he started to walk away, Seto in tow. Seto, with his longer legs, had no trouble catching up to Katsuya, but he was scowling.

"…What?"

"You didn't rest at all since you came to Japan, did you? What you need right now is a hot meal, good night of sleep, and a chance to cool your head. Be good and do as I say."

Seto's frown deepened, but his eyes had softened. As he followed Katsuya, he muttered to himself, "Hn. As if I would listen to what a loser dog like you say."

"Oh, shove that up your ass, Kaiba."

* * *

Katsuya had refused to send Seto home that day. In a hotel, Seto was lying on Katsuya's lap as Katsuya soothingly brushed back his surprisingly soft hair. Seto indeed seemed fatigued. As soon as he washed himself, he fell asleep in Katsuya's arms, and he had been peacefully sleeping since. Sleeping like this made Seto look more his age—after all, he was only a young man—and Katsuya thought that Seto looked quite handsome when his mouth was shut and not sprouting insults or saying idiotic things.

Katsuya felt his legs going to sleep and gently shifted, but this caused Seto to wake up. Since it had been only few hours that he slept, Katsuya softly said, 'go back to sleep', but Seto slowly sat up and shook his head.

"If you start working now, I'm seriously going to bash your laptop over your head," Katsuya warned. Seto rolled his eyes, but he didn't object. He instead loosely wrapped his arms around Katsuya's waist, resting his forehead against the nape of Katsuya's neck.

"I think I need to get drunk."

"…Does it hurt that much?" Katsuya softly asked.

"No matter how many times I do this, I can't get used to it. It's even worse than murder, because I'm ruining thousands of people's lives. All because of my corporation…"

Katsuya felt Seto's arms around his waist slightly trembling, so he pressed his own hands on top of it reassuringly.

"I like power. Because at the orphanage I was a nobody, it felt great to have power to control other people. That's why I like Duel Monsters; I have control over another person's life points, the life and death of monsters. But in reality… In reality, I just wanted someone to acknowledge me…"

Seto's voice was cracking. Katsuya closed his eyes.

"You don't think Mokuba acknowledges you?"

Seto slowly shook his head. His hair was pressed against Katsuya's neck, and it felt scratchy when he moved. "I'm not the one he wants. He wants to lie to himself, and he keeps telling himself that he loves me; that he believes in me. But we both know that the one he really wants is the person I used to be, the person that has died the moment my childhood was destroyed."

Katsuya opened his mouth, but Seto continued. "I'm not regretting it. I'm happy that I was able to rise up so much rungs of the social ladder. Mokuba never knew what hunger was. Money was good. Power was good. But at the end, I was lonely. Even Mokuba no longer loved me like he used to, and…"

Katsuya pressed his hands more firmly on top of Seto's hands, and Seto entwined their fingers together.

"I was very happy when you said you liked me."

"I was happy, too, when you said in a roundabout way that you liked me," Katsuya chirped, softly laughing. Seto's hands tightened.

"Who was being indirect?"

"You. Kaiba Seto."

Seto gave an annoyed grunt, but he let the subject drop. "While I was making calls and slowly tearing Bndai apart, the only thing in my mind was that I was pushing you and Mokuba even further away from me. As I watched myself slowly lose my humanity, I was scared that at the end I would just become a machine."

"Money-making machine might be useful, but it won't be fun to have as a lover," Katsuya murmured. "Having those kind of fear proves that you're still painfully weak and human, Kaiba. And even when even Mokuba ceases to acknowledge you as a human—"

Katsuya didn't need to finish his sentence. Seto lifted his head to lightly kiss Katsuya's ear, then he stood up.

"Do you want some wine? Or is that too high class for a proletariat like you?"

Katsuya groaned. "Kaiba, if you're going to be sweet, continue to be sweet and vulnerable and all that bullshit. If you suddenly act like an asshole, it looses the whole effect of trying to make me feel sorry for you."

Seto laughed—a heart-filled chuckle this time, not dry cold laughter—and glanced at the clock. "Will you get the newspaper? It should be in the hotel lobby. I need to call Mokuba and inform him that I'm not killed, abducted, or fatally injured."

"Sure thing," Katsuya said. While Katsuya went to get the paper, Kaiba called his younger brother. While he was still trying to calm the frantic younger brother, Katsuya returned and placed the paper on the bedside table. Then Katsuya retrieved the wine from the small refrigerator in the kitchenette, and just when he started to pour out two glasses of the dark red liquid, Seto was able to finish his call.

Katsuya smiled and offered him a glass. "I take it Mokuba wasn't thrilled about your disappearance?"

"He took it as well as your sister would take your disappearance," Seto said, taking the glass and emptying half the glass in one shot. He picked the newspaper up and started to glance through the headlines.

Crash—

The crimson liquid quickly stained the cream-colored carpet. Katsuya looked up from his wine, surprised. Seto was deathly pale, the hand holding the newspaper trembling violently as his pupil dilated. Katsuya quickly snatched the paper from Seto and felt his heart turning into lead and dropping to his stomach.

B-ndai, destroyed by the Kaiba Corporation without any reason, had no choice but to hand over the remaining stocks and the company itself to S-nrio. There was no merge. It was all a trap. A deliberate, elaborate trap, forcing the Kaiba Corporation to pulverize the B-ndai with fake rumors and acting like a savior by absorbing the ruined company.

A hoarse, despairing whisper escaped from the stricken president.

"It's over," Seto squeezed out.

"Everything… is over…"

* * *

To Be Continued

Hey, look, actual plot… [sweats] Even though this was supposed to be a company romance, all I was faithful to was the romance, not the actual company storyline. I'm sorry. I just don't have the skills. ;; (Not that there are any elaborate details about Kaiba's Corporation in the actual _Yuugiou_ series, either, but what's revealed is complete, excuse me, bullshit. How could Kaiba run such a large corporation with only 2000 workers? My high school had more people than that! Takahashi-sensei, you're truly an alien from outer space!)

Haaa. It really is too much for a lazy person like me to write two fan fictions at the same time. I'm very sorry for the lack of updates. In the middle of typing up chapter 11, I suddenly thought it sounded stupid, so I wrote it all over again. Don't be too angry with this incompetent writer… On a side note, down with S-nrio! H-llo K-tty is evil! Evil! (Fuee, I'm sorry if you're related in any way to S-rio…)

Ah, the doujinshi-tachi in question. I buy them from Japanese bookstores (or rather, my cousin buys them for me and ships it over). ;; I'm not sure if American branches of Kinokunia or Asahiya has _Yuugiou_ doujinshi(I know they have lots of _Gundam Wing_ doujinshi, but…). It seems that _Yuugiou_ doujinshi-tachi are hard to find…


	12. Stripped Carnation

Chapter 12: Stripped Carnation – Refusal

* * *

As if he was insane.

Seto discovered himself working as if he had truly lost his mind. After he had parted with Katsuya, it has already been three days since he refused to sleep. Even if he tried to sleep, it was impossible. The fury made his heart beat as if it would burst out of his chest. Seto became so anxious that even slightest provocation would make him angry. Mokuba didn't attempt to talk to this kind of Seto.

Did even his little brother abandon him?

Someone energetically slammed the office door open, so Seto glared at the intruder, thinking, 'Whoever it is, he's fired!' Katsuya was standing there, his face pale.

"Damn shit! It must be true that you didn't sleep for three days! You're a panda!"

"Get out!!!" Seto sharply screamed. His tired, red eyes widened fanatically as he became furious. "What is this uncouth behavior in the president's office, Jounouchi Katsuya! If you do not have a business with me, hurry and get lost already!"

Even with such harsh words, Katsuya easily ignored him.

"Are you eating at all? Should I get you a lunch box from the cafeteria downstairs? At this rate, you'll die."

Seto's face became more strained with anger. His tightly clenched hands were shaking. His answer was icy.

"I do not need food or anything of the sort. I have many things to do. If you wish to remain in this company, don't mind about useless things and go do your work instead."

Katsuya looked slightly offended. "Because of you, the entire company feels like we're at a funeral. Mokuba is so worried about you that he doesn't know what to do. Don't you feel sorry for him?"

Seto suddenly leapt up from his seat and crossed the room, tightly grasping Katsuya's collar with his hands. Even though he neither ate nor slept for days, he was strong, so Katsuya's body was lifted into the air. He brought his face near Katsuya's and whispered in a low voice. His eyes were glittering dangerously.

"My life is none of your business. Cheap sympathy only annoys me. I do not have good personality like you seem to think, so if you keep getting in my work, I'll get really angry."

Katsuya's eyes darkened. "…I can't help but get worried about you."

Seto's lips curled up into a cold smile.

"Worry from you is useless to me. Leave me alone."

Katsuya struggled as lack of air made his lungs clench painfully. Seto put Katsuya down on the floor harshly, as if he was tossing him aside, and went back to his seat. His slender fingers gathered the files on the desk closer to himself. Katsuya numbly watched him. Bitter smile came upon his lips.

"…Yeah. You're… definitely a lot different… from the 'Seto' in my thoughts."

More surprised at the tone of the voice than the words, Seto lifted his face, but Katsuya had already left.

* * *

Katsuya's lonely voice continued to ring in his mind, so he couldn't concentrate. When Katsuya first burst into the president's room, his pretty amber-colored eyes had sparkled, but at Seto's cruel words they gradually darkened until dark chocolate-colored eyes mournfully stared at him. Just what 'kind' of human did Katsuya thought he was? No matter how much he thought about it, the Kaiba Seto that Katsuya 'liked' seemed to be 'made up' person within Katsuya's heart. While Seto was at America, Katsuya dreamed of him, creating a perfect person in his mind and muddling the real Seto with the fake Seto. When he thought of that, suddenly his heart hurt so much that he couldn't bear it, so he abandoned his work and all but ran away from the corporation.

Despite it being summer, the night air was pretty cold. The light summer suit allowed cold air to slip through and touch his skin, so Seto gathered his arms around his chest, lowering his head. The breeze messed up his soft coffee-colored hair, and the thick bangs hid his cold blue eyes. His feet barely made any noise against the pavement. His fingers automatically reached for his car keys. The fingers felt stiff.

After turning on the engine of his black BMW, Seto pressed his foot against the accelerator. He drove the car rather recklessly, letting the car glide through the almost empty highway. The car reflected the road lights and shone in a strange shade of light. He left about one quarter of the car window open, so the cold wind rapidly swept his hair out of his eyes. At the blast of such chilly breeze, it felt like his head would become frozen. He wondered if he could drive all the way out to Kimoshita, but after wasting his gasoline for about an hour, he ended up turning his car back towards home.

On the way home, Seto discovered a small-bodied man leaning against his mansion's wall, his head lowered. Is he a beggar? Seto wondered, his face frowning in distaste. But just when he was about to bypass the man, the man heard the car approaching and lifted his head. The two's eyes met, and the sharp and deep purple-colored eyes narrowed in a smirk. The smirk itself was enough to piss him off. Seto stopped the car and lowered his window further, angrily asking, "What do you want?"

"I have… something to talk to you about. Is it okay with you?"

Seto's face contorted further in anger.

"You mean now, Yuugi?"

One curt nod. Even with such small body, the man had a charisma that made it impossible not to obey him. Seto honestly felt too drained to engage in a screaming match with the other Yuugi, but he only narrowed his eyes before gesturing to the passenger's seat on the left side of him. Other Yuugi walked around the car to reach the right side and climbed into the car. Seto wordlessly drove the car towards the park he walked to often when his head was too full of thoughts.

The two avoided looking at each other throughout the ride, but as soon as the car stopped, the other Yuugi turned his head to look—or rather, glare—at Seto. Seto refused to meet his eyes. He walked outside and leaned against the car, staring up at the starless sky.

"Jounouchi-kun called my partner today."

Seto continued to let his eyes reflect the empty sky. The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, but there was no other movement. The surface of the car that his long, slender fingers were resting against felt smooth, but cold.

"He was crying."

"…Yuugi?" Seto asked, his voice barely above a whisper. The other Yuugi slowly shook his head, even though Seto didn't look at him to acknowledge the gesture.

"No. Jounouchi-kun."

"…"

There was a movement, so Seto turned his eyes towards the source of the movement. Yuugi was standing right next to him, his arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the car much the same as Seto was doing. His dark purple eyes deepened until they looked almost like deep magenta in color. Barely controlled anger made his eyes cold, despite their reddish hue.

"While you were at America, he was waiting all this time. Many nights were spent wetting his pillow with tears. Unable to acknowledge or deny his feelings, Jounouchi-kun suffered. And while our beloved friend was suffering, there was nothing my partner or I could do. Do you think you deserve such devotion? Such love?"

"I don't know why I have to have this discussion with you," Seto snapped. His fingers started to turn white as he pressed them against the car. "Did I ask for his feelings? Have I seduced him? And what business is this of yours?"

"Because I will kill anyone who hurts my partner or Jounouchi-kun."

Killing aura surrounded the other Yuugi, and Seto knew well that it wasn't an empty threat. But Seto himself only narrowed his eyes further.

"For three thousand years, in the darkness I gradually lost pieces of myself. But my partner reached his hands out to me. In the bright light of the morning, I made things called 'friends'. Because of partner's smile, because of Jounouchi-kun's kindness, because of everyone's warmth, I gained 'a place to return to'."

Suddenly Other Yuugi's voice became louder.

"How dare you to destroy that 'place to return to'?!"

Seto's eyes widened in surprise. Blue crashed into deep purple. "…What?"

"Do you know how frustrating it is to be unable to touch the one I love the most?! No matter how much my partner is crying, no matter how much he is suffering, I cannot embrace him! No matter how much we might love each other, we cannot make love! I cannot so much as kiss his forehead for 'good night'! I do not even belong to this time! Crossing the boundaries of time and making miracle called 'meeting' happen, you have found a place to return to, yet you act selfishly and break apart Jounouchi-kun!"

Other Yuugi's strong shoulders were trembling. His face was flushed red, and his eyes were violently shaking as if he was going to cry. His voice sounded like his heart was breaking, so even Seto felt an urge comfort him in some way, but he kept his mouth shut. Other Yuugi deeply breathed, but his voice was still trembling.

"…is your company that important to you…? Is it worth it to even risk giving up the most precious thing in your life? Is it all right even if you're left all alone?"

"I…"

"Do you think… you're the only one feeling pain…?"

Seto stepped back, away from Yuugi. His eyes were trembling in return. He slowly shook his head, then he froze. Confusion filled his face. He started to lift his hand, but it dropped helplessly to his side.

"Jounouchi is… my…?"

Other Yuugi brushed his golden-colored hair away from his eyes. His eyes were more gentle as he quietly replied, "If only you've bothered to turn around and look, the place where your soul may rest was waiting for you all this time."

Seto dropped his eyes. He seemed to contemplate something deeply, then he lifted his head again. "…I'll be going ahead."

When the other Yuugi nodded, Seto hurriedly turned away, then looked back at the other Yuugi.

"If you don't tell him, he won't know anything."

The other Yuugi's eyes widened slightly.

"Your feelings alone would be enough for him. Yuugi is that kind of guy. You shouldn't be afraid of rejection. Because, after all, you're here right now, aren't you?"

Other Yuugi watched as Seto left, then allowed smirk to rise to his lips again.

"How dishonest. If you're thankful, just say 'thank you'."

* * *

All the cherry blossoms had died out. The thick green leaves that brightened the sidewalk during the morning looked black at night. The bark of the tree trunk that he was leaning against felt rough. The weather was strangely cold, so the tears upon his cheeks felt hot. Katsuya wiped away his tear with the back of his hand roughly. The salty taste of his tears was unpleasant.

'I wasn't going to cry anymore,' Katsuya thought to himself. But the tears kept falling down anyway. The place where Seto first made him happy with returning his feelings felt—

As empty as his heart.

In the darkness, Katsuya wondered if he had been imagining everything in his mind. Seto in his dreams were infinitely kind and gentle. Was Katsuya happy only when the real Seto overlapped the dream Seto? After all, Seto was a human being, so of course there were days when he was obnoxious and unpleasant. If he got hurt every time Seto was being a 'human', did he have the right to say that he truly 'liked' Seto?

"I don't know," Katsuya told himself, bitterly crying. "I don't want to be rejected anymore… I thought I could cover his weaknesses, but if he rejects my outstretched hand like that, I don't know what to do anymore…"

Because he had been refused all this time. By the society, by his father, by his mother that he loved so much… If even his beloved person couldn't accept him, Katsuya felt he would lose 'the place to return to'. Rapid footsteps seemed to approach him, but Katsuya didn't bother lifting his head up. He didn't want his tear-stained face to be shown to any passerby.

Warm, strong arms wrapped around his upper body, and Katsuya's eyes widened as he was picked up from the ground into a warm chest. When his confused eyes sought the person, soft blue eyes that glistened in the darkness came to view.

"Kaiba…"

"Why are you sitting on the dirty floor, sniveling like a grade-schooler?" Seto scornfully asked. Katsuya weakly struggled, but Seto held him closer.

"Sorry…" Suddenly sobs erupted from his throat again. Even though he didn't want to show his tear-stained face to anyone, he started to cry again. "U… ue… I…"

"It was my fault."

"…?"

When Katsuya dared to lift his face towards Seto's face again, Seto was staring at him, his eyes serious. His hand lightly rested against his face, then Seto carefully wiped Katsuya's tears away.

"Forgive me. It was all my fault. I didn't want to seem weak to you."

Katsuya weakly tried to push Seto away. "I… I'm not sure anymore. I don't think I have the strength to withstand any more rejections. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I'm so tired…"

"Katsuya."

At the usage of his first name, Katsuya's eyes widened in surprise. He stared at Seto, tears slowly running down his cheeks.

"I wasn't refusing you. I… I need you. Without a place to rest my soul, I would become insane. From now on, it will be really difficult for us. I might get stressed and yell at you again, but I would never reject you."

"Kaiba…"

"So please forgive me."

Katsuya tightly clung to Seto. Tears escaped his eyes again. Seto carefully cupped Katsuya's cheeks in his hands, then lowered his face and kissed him. Warm pink tongue worked at wiping Katsuya's tears away from his face. The tears tasted warm and salty. Katsuya slowly closed his eyes and allowed Seto to kiss him. Seto's tongue slowly entered his mouth, and salty taste of tears spread through his mouth as well.

Katsuya didn't mind the taste.

* * *

Ryuuji's hand clutched at the newspaper so tightly that the edge of the paper started to rip apart. On the front cover was a photograph of Katsuya and Seto. They… were kissing. The headlines screamed of the young president of Kaiba Corporation being a homosexual with a worker from his company. Ryuuji's eyes flashed a brilliant green in anger.

"Those… cowards," Ryuuji lowly murmured to himself. His hands trembled. "They're just out to destroy the Kaiba Corporation, aren't they… How could they… Right after the B-ndai incident…"

Ryuuji's eyes lowered.

"Jounouchi…"

* * *

To Be Continued

Ahaha. I'm sorry for such an awful chapter, right after last chapter. It seems I'm vent on making Kaiba suffer. I'm sorry, Kaiba! Please believe me, I'm your fan! (He doesn't need a fan like you. ;;;;;)

Eh. Kaiba and the pharaoh sound actually civil towards each other when I translated the dialogue into English. Actually the Japanese version went something like "Teme wa nanda?!" "Kisama… to hanashi ga aru. Ii ka?" …It sounded a lot more rude, but I couldn't really think up of the English equivalent without using some nasty words, so I just translated it without the thorn attached to the words. ;;

It seems that it's impossible for Shiro to escape the clutches of Midorikawa Hikaru-sama. Hiiro Yui of Shin Seiki Gundam Wing, the first character I was ever obsessed with, was voice-acted by Midorin. And I found out that in the Toei version of Yuugiou, Kaiba Seto was also acted by Midorin. And my recent obsession, Ryuho of s.CRY.ed… was also voice-acted by Midorin. Wahahaha. And his first name is same as my name… ;;;;;; It's unfortunate that Seto's voice actor changed for the Duel Monster series, but Tsuda Kenjirou-san seems to match him pretty well, so it's okay. X3 (He sounds more cool when he acts for Inui Sadahara, but that's probably because Inui doesn't yell out 'I will be the best! Wahahaha!' sort of things… ;;;;;)


	13. Garden Anemone

Chapter 13: Garden Anemone – Forsaken

* * *

Their bodies loosely entangled on top of wide bed, Katsuya locked his fingers with Seto's and grinned. Seto watched him, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. Initially he had planned on smoking, but he didn't want to bother standing up to retrieve lighter from his pants pocket. Brushing back his long brown hair away from his eyes, Seto watched Katsuya playing with his fingers. He gave up on the idea of smoking and tossed the cigarette away.

"Naaa, Kaiba."

Seto inclined his head to show that he was listening.

"You're a jerk."

Katsuya laughed at the strange expression Seto had on his face. When Seto opened his mouth, Katsuya held up his hand and continued, "But I like you just the way you are. I was thinking, and… Well, frankly I'll start worrying if you become too nice all of a sudden. You're doing your best to be tolerable, and I'm sure years will wear down that horrible personality of yours. But I'm still a human, so I might be frustrated. If I cry, if I become angry with you, you have to accept that, just like I can accept you."

Seto seemed to deeply contemplate something, then he lowered his head.

"I was scared of asking you this, but I'm going to ask now."

"Heh? There is something that all-mighty Kaiba Seto is frightened of?" Katsuya asked, grinning, but his smile disappeared when Seto's face remained serious.

"Which is it that you like? Is it me, or is it the Kaiba Seto of your dreams?"

Katsuya's expression stiffened. "…What?"

"Answer me." Seto pressed his hand against Katsuya's cheek. "I was away from you for quite a long time. During that time, what you might think of as the 'real' Kaiba might be quite different from who I am right now. Open your eyes and look at the person in front of you right now. Which one is the one you really want?"

"What kind of nonsense is this?" Katsuya roughly asked. Seto shook his head.

"It's not nonsense. If it is your dream Kaiba you desire, I am willing to change for you. I can do that. So you must be honest with me."

Katsuya opened his mouth, then he closed it. His eyes lowered, as he seemed to think about something. When he lifted his eyes towards Seto's eyes again, there was determination in them.

"Kaiba, I—"

"_Niisama_! Have you read this morning's paper?!" A loud voice suddenly interrupted as the door to Seto's room slammed open. Mokuba rushed in, an issue of the _mainichi_ paper clutched in his hand. His soft gray-colored eyes focused on his older brother and Katsuya on his older brother's bed, both of them gloriously naked except for blanket that barely managed to cover them, their clothing strewn here and there in the room. He glanced at the newspaper again, then at his brother. "…_Niisama_… Then the newspaper article was true?"

"Mokuba," Seto hurriedly started. Mokuba shook his head.

"I can't believe you… Of all people, you were… homosexual?"

Mokuba took a step back, lowering his head. His voice was trembling.

"That's gross…"

"Mokuba…" Seto said. His voice grew weak. "I'm sorry, Mokuba, but…I…"

"Was that what you thought I was going to say?"

It took few seconds for both Katsuya and Seto to register this remark. As soon as Seto understood the implications of his brother's words, his face turned red as he yelled out, "You…!"

Mokuba burst into laughter. His gray eyes were sparkling in amusement as he playfully said, "It's about time! It's always 'Jounouchi this' and 'Jounouchi that', I was sick and tired of listening to you mourn about Jounouchi no _Niichan_, you know. If you thought all-mighty Kaiba Mokuba wouldn't even notice it when his brother fell in love, you were sadly mistaken, _Niisama_!"

The only missing element from this statement was the 'wahahahaha!!!' laughter and white trench coat flying behind him. Mokuba had his hands on his waists, a very superior smirk on his face. Katsuya cheerfully commented, "Hey, he's your biological brother after all, Kaiba!"

"Shut up!" Seto snapped. But relief was evident on his face. As long as Katsuya and Mokuba accepted him, he really didn't care what anyone else said…

Seto suddenly grimaced. "…What does the papers say, Mokuba?"

The superior smirk was instantly wiped off of Mokuba's face as he trotted towards Seto, holding out the newspaper. "Be careful of where you're making out, won't you, you two? Geez, weren't you two supposed to be grown-ups?"

Katsuya leaned over Seto's shoulder to glance at the newspaper and grimaced. "Oh, shit."

Katsuya turned his eyes to look at his lover, a concerned expression crossing his face. Seto was glaring at the printed pages, as if boring a hole into the paper. Suddenly he lightly sighed and tossed the newspaper away. "Let's go have breakfast."

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

Both Katsuya and Mokuba turned their heads to stare at Seto. Seto took the sleeping robe hanging from a chair next to his bed and pulled it on, tying the sash loosely around his waist. He stood up and started to walk across the room, towards the door. "Breakfast. Let's go eat."

Mokuba picked the newspaper up from the ground while Katsuya pulled on a robe and followed his lover. "Eh, Kaiba, have you finally lost it? Kaiba?" Katsuya worriedly asked, placing his hand on Seto's arm. Seto stopped walking.

"…It doesn't matter anymore."

"Huh?"

Seto turned his head to look at Katsuya. "As long as you and Mokuba acknowledge me, it doesn't really matter. If parents do not approve of a homosexual president making toys for their children, I will just work harder and make my product so superior that they can't help but buy it. If that fails, I will just leave the company. Mokuba can handle the company just fine without me. But no matter what happens from now on, it's fine."

Katsuya continued to stare at Seto with something akin to bewilderment etched on his face. Then he lowered his head and softly chuckled.

"Mm, this isn't like you at all, but… We're young, so if all else fails, we can open a _ramen_ (instant noodle) cart or something. It'll work out, right?"

"I hate _ramen_," Seto grumbled. But he gave Katsuya a small smile when Katsuya took his hand and gave it a light squeeze.

"Do gross mushy stuff when I'm not here or get a room!" Mokuba cheerfully said.

"MOKUBA!!!" was Seto's answer.

* * *

After a short breakfast consisting of _miso_ (fermented bean) soup, _umeboshi_ (pickled plum) and steamed rice at Katsuya's insistence ("Japanese people should eat rice for proper breakfast!" he said), Seto emptied a cup of black coffee while glaring at his personal computer's monitor. Katsuya, who would never understand how a human could drink coffee without mollifying its bitter taste, added sugar and cream to his own coffee and watched Seto's frown deepen by the minute.

"Kaiba, you're going to get wrinkles."

Seto made an irritated sound.

"Did the stocks go down a lot?"

"It's the worst," Seto replied.

Katsuya sipped his coffee. As fitting for Seto, the coffee was some expensive bland that Katsuya never even heard of. The coffee did taste more rich and creamy than the cheap instant stuff that Katsuya was used to, but what was the point of spending more money for the same black and bitter stuff?

"Are you going to hold a press conference?"

"Of course."

Katsuya finished his cup. "When?"

"Shut your mouth already, mutt." Seto grumbled as he sent some mails. With his task done, he closed his laptop and straightened his body. "Let's go to work. We're late as it is."

Katsuya nodded and stood up after Seto, placing empty coffee cup on the table next to the sofa. He looked down at his sleeping robe, then looked up at Seto again. Seto rolled his eyes.

"Borrow something from Mokuba. Honestly, if you're going to come here so often, you should bring something to wear."

"I only have two suits; I can't bring them here. No matter what happens, I have to stay home with my father," Katsuya replied, lightly laughing. But his laughter died out as something crossed his face. "Home… Oh, damn it all."

"What is it?" Seto asked. Katsuya shook his head, forcing a smile on his face again.

"It's nothing, it's nothing. I have to go somewhere before I go to work, so go ahead without me, okay?"

"_Bonkotsu_ (proletariat)…"

"I'll come after you as soon as I can. It'll look weird for us to go to work at the same time after what the newspapers said, anyway."

Katsuya left, calling for Mokuba. Seto watched his turned back. Something flashed across his eyes before it was extinguished, and he, too, went to his room to change for work.

* * *

As Katsuya had feared, there was a mob of reporters in front of the apartment that he and his father shared. Unlike Seto, Katsuya had no security system, fences or bodyguards, and at his appearance he was instantly showered with questions and camera flashes. Ignoring the persistent reporters, Katsuya pushed through human mass in front of him home and firmly closed the door behind him. The scene that greeted him when he turned around surprised him.

"Shizu… ka?"

"_Oniichan_," Shizuka said, looking up. She smiled, but the shadow darkening her pretty face toned down the smile so that it looked painful. Her fragile hands clasped in front of her bosom, she stood up and mournfully looked at her older brother. When Katsuya silently looked back at her, she held out her hands for Katsuya's coat. Feeling a lump in his throat, Katsuya gave his coat to his sister and turned his eyes to look at his father, who was slumped over on the sofa, and—

"Mother."

The person who ran away from his father and his debts. The person whom Katsuya hated with every cell of his being, yet whom he also craved and wanted with all his heart. The person who gave birth to him, and the person who abandoned him. The person who never called his name affectionately or referred to him as her son, but coldly called him 'that child.'

"Mother…"

"Explain."

Katsuya lowered his eyes. Katsuya's father pleadingly looked at him, his face ashen and sunken.

"Katsuya-kun, please explain. Tell me how such a mistake happened. How can such an ugly rumor about you and-- The name 'Jounouchi' got trampled to the ground as result of this… incident. Is it possible to correct this? First of all, how did this happen?"

Katsuya fidgeted with his fingers as his father spoke, his voice soft and his sentences occasionally breaking before he resumed. He took in a deep breath, then lifted his eyes to meet his father's.

"Dad," Katsuya started. He hesitated, then started in a much softer voice, "It's not a rumor. I… I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I want to spend rest of my life with him."

Neither of his parents spoke. Katsuya's father's face turned paler, while Katsuya's mother's lips thinned, her eyes narrowing as she sat rigidly on the sofa. Shizuka's eyes widened briefly before she lowered her eyes, clutching Katsuya's coat tightly to herself. Katsuya closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt so tired.

"I love that person…"

Something blurred past his cheek, then hit the wall beside his head and loudly crashed into miniscule fragments. Some of the pieces bounced back, cutting Katsuya's cheek. Blood slowly oozed out of the cuts. Katsuya did not move. With small chiming sounds, broken glass pieces scattered around his feet.

Katsuya's father wordlessly stood up and left the room. Only then did Shizuka rush forward and placed her hands on his arms. Her olive-green eyes searched his wounds, worried frown on her face.

"Oniichan, are you okay? Shouldn't we go to the hospital? I—"

"Shizuka-san, please let go of that child," Katsuya's mother coldly interrupted. She stood up. When her eyes met with Katsuya's, she shuddered. "What kind of uncouth scene this is! Truly, like your father, you are nothing but a social outcast. When I look at your eyes, when I look at those eyes that look so much like your father's, I want to die, knowing I am the one who brought you to this world."

Katsuya stared at her. She evenly looked back at him, her posture stiff and remote.

"When you brought the money for Shizuka-san's surgery, I was happy. 'He is not an animal,' I thought to myself. I proudly thought that half of my blood in your veins would make you grow up into a respectable man. From afar I had been proud of you, watching you blending into our society and living with your head held up high. But… after all, you are your father's son."

"Mother!" Shizuka protested. Katsuya placed his hand on her arm and slowly shook his head. Shizuka looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. "But Oniichan…!"

The door suddenly flung open ("Shit, I forgot to lock it," Katsuya thought), and a tall object stalked in, shouting at top of his voice, "Where are you! Mutt!"

Everyone in the room froze. Blue eyes surveyed each person present, something akin to puzzlement flashing in the orbs, before they landed themselves on Katsuya's brown eyes. Then his eyes quickly darted back to Katsuya's mother, and he quickly lowered his head.

"Ah, excuse me for the rude intrusion. I am Kaiba Seto. It is a pleasure—"

"You are president of the company that that child works at?" Katsuya's mother asked, her eyes further narrowing. At Seto's meek nod, she turned away.

"What unsightly things I must be exposed to today! With your abilities, there must be plenty of women who are willing to spread their legs open for you. But a man, a man is different from women you are accustomed to taking bed with you. A man has reputation to keep in this society; a man needs the means to feed his wives and children when he starts a family."

Seto's eyes widened. "But I-- To me, _bon_, I mean Jounouchi, is—"

Her voice only grew colder. "Is it that much fun to ruin a man with your money? That money of yours will be ruin to you someday. When you are through playing with that child and throw him away, there will come a day that you will regret your actions."

Seto helplessly watched Katsuya's mother leave the room, then turned his head to look at Katsuya.

"_Bon… kotsu_? Are you… crying?"

Katsuya stood without answering, his hands clenched at his sides. His pupils dilated and his mouth open slightly, he stared at Seto, tears running down his smooth cheeks before pooling at his chin and falling off in big droplets. Seto hurriedly started to wipe his tears away, cupping his cheek in his hands.

"Don't cry, don't cry… Where did this cut come from? It'll get infected; we'll have to bandage…"

Katsuya shook his head and pulled away from Seto. "The dream… The dream got shattered, and I got cut by the fragments…"

"Small fish… I mean, Jounouchi…" Seto said, trying to hold Katsuya. Katsuya pushed him away, his frantic eyes not quite focusing on Seto.

"It would've been better if the dream only remained as a dream."

Katsuya turned and fled, ignoring sharp cries of "_Makeinu_! _Makeinu_, come back here!"

There was a heavy rain. Thankfully, the rain drove off the reporters, so Katsuya was able to run in the downpour without any interruptions. The clouds covered up the late summer sun, and the droplets felt cold, and they were so big that it hurt when the rain hit his skin directly. Water kept running down to his eyes, so he couldn't see. But that didn't matter. As long as his legs kept him running, as long as his lungs took in deep breathes of oxygen—

He could run away.

* * *

Leather shoes splashed in the puddles that rain droplets rapidly gathered in. A man walked in the rain, his arms full of brown manila folders. He stopped walking, his bright green eyes widening. He leaned over a slumped figure. Delicate hand reached out and brushed back messy blond hair away from closed eyes, then the hand quickly pulled away upon discovering that the forehead he felt was burning hot.

"Just what are you doing, Jounouchi?" Ryuuji softly asked. "Why are you getting so hurt…?"

* * *

-To Be Continued-

The _Yuugiou: Duel Monsters_ animation seems to be nearing the end! This fan fiction is nearing the end, too. :3 Initially I was thinking of making Mokuba reject Kaiba, but Mokuba loves his brother too much to do that! Anyway, considering Mokuba has the same voice actor as Uzumaki Naruto, Kanbara Takuya, and Gon Freaks, it would be just weird to make him hateful and angry. Mokuba would always be happy, sweet Mokumi-_himesama_ ♡ (Cut that out.)

KJ-san, please don't worry about the review thing. Thank you for the guestbook entries; I'm glad you liked that section! As for 'something else' that Kaiba and Jounouchi can do besides fighting, you already know what, don't you? ♥

Since it's nearing the end, it's nearly the time for the inevitable separation… I don't want Pharaoh-sama to be separated from Yuugi _Himesama_! But I'm glad that Yuugi has other precious friends now—Honda, Anzu-chan, Jounouchi—so he doesn't have to cry by himself anymore. In the memory arc, when Kaiba followed Jounouchi to the memory world, I was really happy when Jounouchi started to tease Kaiba, saying, "Look, Kaiba, two Yuugi's! You're shocked now, right?! Right?!" Of course our Shachou-sama had to ruin Jounouchi's fun, saying, "After all I've been through, nothing is surprising anymore, you stupid proletariat." The way these two interact is so cute! Please include lots and lots of KaiJyo, _Yuugiou_ animator staff! X3


	14. Flowering Fern

Chapter 14: Flowering Fern - Reverie

* * *

Something deliciously cold was blocking his view. His vision only took in pure whiteness, pure nothingness, and while it was comforting in a twisted way, it also made him feel strangely empty. Katsuya shook his head, and the entity fell off. He grimaced at the ache that shaking his head had produced. His dull brown eyes raked over the object, attempting to remember where he had seen it before. …Towel. That was it. Wet towel.

Was he sick?

"Are you awake?" Quiet voice inquired. Katsuya slowly nodded, mindful of the pain that sharp movements caused his head. A hand rested against his forehead where the towel had previously rested. The hand was cool, so it felt good. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap," Katsuya croaked. Great, his voice decided to die on him. Emerald-green eyes swam into his view.

"Do you feel up to eating something?"

"Why are you forcing me to talk?" Katsuya grumbled. Ryuuji quietly laughed. Katsuya turned his eyes to survey the room, at the pale-mint walls, at the luxurious furniture that decorated the room. He turned his eyes away, concluding that this must be Ryuuji's room, rather than a hotel suite.

Ryuuji cleared his throat. "So…"

"Eh?"

"So what were you doing? I'm sure running around in the pouring rain, then taking a nap in the middle of garbage pile wasn't your idea of fun. Your fever was really high this morning, you know. Not to mention, you've gone and twisted your ankle. What happened?"

Katsuya felt another wave of headache washing over him. He tightly shut his eyes. "You nursed me back to health?"

"Don't change the topic, Jounouchi. What the hell is going on?"

Katsuya cracked on of his eyes open. Intense gaze immediately met his eye, so Katsuya shut it again. "…I ran away."

"From whom?"

"From everyone. From everything. I'm not strong at all. When I realized that there was nothing left of the fragile dream I had, I couldn't accept it, so I ran like hell." Katsuya pressed his cheek against the soft folds of the bed, one of his hands unconsciously clutching the fabric tightly to himself. "I've been holding onto my dream for too long. It's impossible for homosexuals to be happy in our kind of society. Why did I think it was possible for me to find happiness?"

Ryuuji lightly sighed. "Who the hell cares about the society? All that matters is that you're happy, isn't it?"

"It doesn't work like that. My dream was only a fairy tale, where everything turns out all happy and nice at the end. If… If Kaiba abandons me, as my mother said, then what? I'm scared, I'm so scared I can't even bear to look straight into the eyes of my beloved, and people think it's a big joke that the young president of Kaiba Corporation is having an affair with a loser like me. I can't stand it anymore!"

"Jounouchi, calm down!" Ryuuji sharply said. Katsuya, whose voice had started to sound hysterical, abruptly shut his mouth and lowered his head. He still had his eyes tightly closed, as if he can block out reality by not looking at it. "Were you such a coward?! Jounouchi Katsuya I know would never run away! Weren't you always of a strength to all your friends because you never gave up, no matter how bad the odds were again you?!"

"This is not a f---ing card game! Otogi, I can't be happy by myself; my whole family suffers because of my actions and even my friends are affected and I can't be happy because I am part of this society!"

Ryuuji watched Katsuya violently tremble, his head buried in his hands, his shoulders hunched and his body rolled into a loose ball. In a subdued tone he quietly interjected, "You don't love Kaiba, then."

At that Katsuya sharply lifted his head up, his eyes glaring at Ryuuji. "Watch it, Otogi. I'm not in a mood for this discussion again."

"If you love him, then how could you not trust him?! If he can trust you enough to let a scandal like this slip by, why can't you trust him enough to leave your life up to him as well?"

"I don't know! I just don't want to get hurt anymore! I don't want to be rejected anymore! If Kaiba rejects me, everything is over! I don't want to leave only one option like that!" Katsuya bit into his lips. He tasted blood as his teeth sharply dug into thin flesh covering his lips. "Reality is not a dream…"

Ryuuji lifted Katsuya's face to look at his own, his other hand resting on Katsuya's shoulder. "Jounouchi Katsuya. How would you like it if Kaiba acted like you after Mokuba rejected him? How would you feel if Kaiba doesn't trust enough to leave himself vulnerable to pains you may cause him? Even placing his company—something he spent his entire life building—on the risk, Kaiba was willing to face reality by your side."

Ryuuji lowered his voice.

"Will you keep clutching into pieces of your dream? Or will you evolve and face the reality with the person who is most precious to you?"

* * *

Mokuba watched his older brother throwing a tantrum with more of an amusement than alarm. Seto was pacing back and forth in his office, occasionally destroying random office supplies that came within his grasp. Currently he was engaged in ripping apart printing papers into miniscule pieces.

"That—that lab rat! Loser dog! Proletariaaaat! Where the hell is he? Why did he turn his cell phone off? Why did he run off like that?!"

Mokuba offered his brother a glass of strawberry juice. It must hurt his throat to rant on like that for such a long time. Seto wordlessly snatched the glass from his hands and gulped the whole thing down, then slammed the glass on the table and resumed pacing.

Mokuba continued to watch in mild and silent amusement.

"He… He only wanted the dream after all! He doesn't like _me_, he likes that damned dream of his that he probably came up with after reading stupid romance novels! Why? What does that shadow of me have that I don't have?!"

"I do not know. You'll have to ask Jounouchi no Niichan himself about that," Mokuba replied, politely smiling. Seto threw his hands up into the air.

"If that's what he wanted, he should've told me! I can do anything for him! I'll take him to some distant place where no one would recognize us and spend all that I have to make him happy, to make him live in his dream world with sweet, gentle Kaiba Seto!"

Mokuba picked up the second glass of strawberry juice and took a sip of the sweet beverage. "But Niisama, that's not what you want. Even if Jounouchi no Niichan is happy, you wouldn't be happy."

"…Of course not." Seto sighed and finally plopped down on the sofa across from Mokuba's seat, slinging his arms around the sofa and lowering his head backwards until he stared at the ceiling. "I'll do it for him, if that's his wish. But… Knowing that it is merely shadow of myself that he likes, I'll cry inside. But for him… For him, even that would be a happiness to me."

Mokuba watched his brother from the corner of his eyes. "Well then, all you need to do is find out, right? Ask Jounouchi no Niichan what he really wants, Niisama. Whether you choose the fake happiness or real pain, your brother will always be by your side, so." He lightly laughed and took another sip of his juice. "If Jounouchi no Niichan pisses you off, call me, and I'll sit there and listen to your complaints all day. I'm used to doing that from all this company work."

Mokuba squeaked in a rather undignified manner when Seto suddenly leapt up from his seat and tightly hugged his little brother. "Eh, Niisama! You're spilling the juice! The juice!"

"What did I do to deserve a brother like you?" Seto quietly asked, his voice choked with emotions. Mokuba suddenly felt embarrassed, so he tentatively hugged his brother back. "I'd do anything for you, Mokuba…"

"Really? How about some raise? You've been really stingy with my allowances, Niisama!" Mokuba hopefully suggested.

Seto suddenly pulled away from him and scowled. "Kaiba Mokuba, don't you have work to do? Go along, now."

Mokuba stared at his brother in a stunned silence. Then color rose to his cheeks.

"…NIISAMA, YOU MISER!!!"

* * *

"Ow! Otogi, stop! I told you, I don't want to!" Katsuya loudly protested. Ryuuji ignored him and continued to walk, one of Katsuya's arm slung over his shoulder. Because Katsuya's swollen ankle prevented him from doing much of a walking, he was all but dragged along, hopping on his good foot. "Otogiiii!"

"Oh, do shush up," Ryuuji impatiently snapped, rolling his eyes.

"But it really hurts! Where are we going?" Katsuya asked. He nearly knocked both of them over when Ryuuji suddenly came to a stop. "Wha…"

Katsuya's expression stiffened when he realized exactly where Ryuuji had brought him. "…Why are we here?"

"Because you act like you want to come here."

With that Ryuuji threw Katsuya's arm off his shoulder. Loosing his balance, Katsuya landed on his rear, very neatly and precisely on the doorstep of the Kaiba mansion. "Otogi, you son of a lady dog!" Katsuya yelled indignantly.

"Thank you. Kaiba! Kaiba!!!"

There was a silence, then through the intercom came Seto's voice. He didn't sound too pleased. "You'd better have a really good reason to make a ruckus in front of my house."

"I came to return the puppy you lost. He twisted his ankle, so you'd better come and get him yourself. He says he wants to do it with you until he can't move, so hurry up."

"Otogi, your voice is too loud!" Katsuya frantically said, his eyes widening. There was another long silence at the other end, then the intercom clicked on again.

"…Very well."

"Have fun," Ryuuji cheerfully said. He waved at Katsuya, then turned around. Katsuya paled.

"What… Otogi! Otogi, you can't leave me here like this! Hey! Otogiiiii!!!"

He helplessly watched as his friend walked away from him. He attempted to stand up, but this only caused pain to shot up his leg and for him to plop down into the doorstep again, wrapping his arms around his legs.

The main entrance to the Kaiba mansion swung open, nearly slamming into Katsuya's face. Seto stood, his clothing shriveled and breathing heavily, as if he had ran all the way to the door. Katsuya stared at him. Seto took a deep breath, then exploded, "You idiot mediocre fool!"

"…Nice to see you, too." Katsuya winced when Seto leaned down and picked him up into his arms. "Ka, Kaiba! Someone could be watching us! I am _not_ decorating the front pages of the newspapers again! Kaiba!"

"Shut up already!" Seto slammed the door closed and quickly walked back to his house, Katsuya in his arms. "It's always Kaiba, Kaiba! Can't you shut up and let me take care of you once in a while?! Why do you have to be so damn independent?!"

"But…"

Reaching his house, Seto all but ripped the door open. His long legs quickly climbed the stairs and crossed the hallway into his room. "I hate anything that's second-rate! Unless it's the best, it's useless; I don't need it. So why do I need _you_ so much?! Why are you, a mere proletariat fool, so precious to me that I suffer because of you? Answer me!"

Seto pushed Katsuya into his bed and glared at him, icy-blue eyes boring into confused brown ones. "Answer, Jounouchi Katsuya! Decide once and for all! Tonight, for sure, you must decide: Which it is that you want? Kaiba Seto you see in front of your eyes, or the Kaiba Seto you meet in your dreams?"

"Kai…"

"Decide!" Seto said, his voice loud enough to be considered screaming now. His eyes were wide, and there was just a touch of frantic insecurity embedded in the pupils. His slender hands wrapped around Katsuya's cheeks, forcing their eyes to meet. Suddenly Seto's voice softened. He looked tired.

"Which one do you want…?"

Katsuya stared at Seto, then slowly turned his eyes away. Seto felt strength draining out of him. Then, then…

"I want… To tell you the truth, the one I want is…"

Awkward arms wrapped around Seto's shoulders. Katsuya bit into his lips, his eyes violently trembling.

"I want you! Kaiba… I… I don't want the dream, no matter how sweet it is. The one I want is Kaiba Seto in front of me, so… So, you must stay by my side…!"

"Jou… no… uchi?"

Katsuya pulled Seto down until Seto's head rested near Katsuya's head, his body sprawled on top of the smaller man. Katsuya's voice shook. But even though his voice was weak, there was conviction behind it.

"That's my decision."

* * *

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Seto said. Katsuya grinned.

"Are you kidding? And miss out on all the fun?"

Seto lightly smacked Katsuya's head, and Katsuya broke into peals of laughter. Seto rested his hand on the door handle of the conference room, where they would have press conference about Seto and Katsuya's relationship. There was no turning back now. Seto glanced at Katsuya, who firmly nodded.

Seto opened the door.

* * *

-To Be Continued-

"_Zettai kimerun da_(you have to decide)! _Konya koso kimero_(decide tonight, no matter what)! _Omae ga hoshii no wa docchi da_(which is it you want)!"

Personally I believe that no matter how painful reality is, it's preferable over sweet dreams. Because, after all, dreams can't be controlled, and it disappears once we're awake. I'd rather make my life with my own hands and face the reality.

On a side note, the uncut ero version can be found at my site or at the group, both of which are listed on my profile. X3


	15. Bridal Rose

Chapter 15: Bridal Rose - Happiness

* * *

Amid blinding flashes of camera light and downpour of questions and accusations, Seto walked towards the small platform raised in front of the room. The more he walked, the more of what little confidence he had ebbed away. As if understanding Seto without words, Katsuya slipped his hand into his hand, so Seto curled his fingers around Katsuya's and gave the smaller hand a light squeeze. Quick glance at his lover reassured him with Katsuya's small smile. The two took a seat.

"Everyone, please be quiet! Will you please take a seat over there! Hirose, what happened to those folders?" Manabu felt his vocal chord slowly but surely die as he continued to yell at top of his voice to be able to be heard among noisy reporters and staffs of the Kaiba Corporation. He gave a tired shake of head when Akihiro found the missing folders and handed them to him.

"Arita-san, what should we do about the sitting arrangements? There aren't enough chairs in this place," Akihiro meekly questioned. Manabu's voice grew sharp.

"Go tell them to stand in the back or something! Everyone, will you please be quiet and sit!"

"What part of shut the hell up and _sit_ do you not understand!!!" Seto's voice suddenly exploded. It was certainly few decibels louder than Manabu's yells, and the room grew quiet like cold water had been thrown at the room's inhabitants. Seto, who had leapt up from his seat, took his seat again and pasted a formal smile on his face. "Thank you for coming all the way to this conference, despite the fact that I'm sure everyone has other businesses to attend to. Please ask one question at a time, and I shall do my best to answer it to your satisfaction."

There was silence for few more seconds before suddenly hands started to shoot up into the air, questions were tossed into the air, and camera flashes started to irritate Katsuya's eyes again. Seto might be used to this crap, but he most definitely wasn't. He glanced at Seto, who had nodded to one of the reporters.

"Kaiba-san, is it true that you have caused the downfall of B-ndai by pulling all of its stock under your name out of the market?"

Seto visibly stiffened, but his voice remained neutral. "Yes. It was an inevitable course of action. There had been rumors that B-ndai and S-nrio will merge, and such an occurrence would have been fatal to the Kaiba Corporation. However, later sources confirmed that this had been a false rumor deliberately spread by the S-nrio Corporation."

More hands shot up, and a young lady stood up with a pen and notebook clutched in her hands. "Have you considered what that would mean to the employees of the B-ndai Corporation?"

"Kaiba knew better than anyone else what that would mean," Katsuya cut in. Seto looked at him, surprised. Katsuya gave Seto a little nod before he continued. "I was by his side the whole time, so I know better than anyone else how much Kaiba suffered because of this incident. He was in a lot of pain because he knew what his mistake had caused others. But something like this is common in the business world. It was the company that Kaiba had destroyed. I do not see the sense in using Kaiba as a scapegoat in order to write amusing news articles."

"It sounds as if Kaiba Corporation is the victim of the latest happenings," another reporter commented. "Is there a proof that such false rumors were deliberately infiltrated into the Kaiba Corporation by S-nrio? Why haven't there been any lawsuits against such fraud?"

Seto bit into his lower lip. All evidences of the false rumor had mysteriously vanished. There were traitors among his workers. Despite continued searches for the missing files, not even back-up data had anything significant. "…No. No evidence had been found."

More camera flashes and busy scribbling followed Seto's admittance. Then a reporter called out, "How about the person next to you? Are the rumors that Jounouchi Katsuya is your lover true?"

Seto turned his head to look at Katsuya. 'Please don't get hurt because of me,' his eyes pleaded. Katsuya steadily met his gaze, then suddenly broke into a wide smile. And Seto knew that everything would be all right.

Seto turned to face the cameras. "…There is a person that I like right now. That person always waited for me even in the darkest of the nights, and when I was lonely, I was able to count on that person to comfort me. In my empty life that child brought laughter and happiness, and that child was almost idiotically kind and gentle, so I felt for the first time that I 'belonged' somewhere." His fingers sought Katsuya's fingers, and he felt Katsuya wrapping both of his hands around his hand reassuringly. "It is unfortunate that the person who is most precious to me—Jounouchi Katsuya—is a male, just like myself. I am aware that there are many things I will lose because of my decision to be with him. But… Even if I have to lose everything…"

Seto ripped the false smile away from his face and replaced it with a genuine smile that came from his heart. "As long as Jounouchi is by my side, I won't run away. I won't regret. I like Jounouchi Katsuya."

Manabu stood up and cleared his throat. All eyes turned to him in return. "Homosexual relationships are often looked down upon. It is not considered 'normal' in our society. But it is not wrong for a person to love another person. Why is it that our modern society refuses to accept such love, just because the lovers have same gender? Moreover, how does Kaiba _Shachou-sama's_ sexual preference affect our products? Kaiba Corporation will continue to make excellent products, despite recent incidences. If you cannot accept current standings of this company, I think it will be for you to leave."

There was a silence, then a man stood up. "Kaiba Shachou-sama's recent actions certainly surprised me, but that does not justify in respecting the man any less. He had been an efficient president for us. He had been fair and understanding. I would not leave this company, even should it fail."

Another man joined in. "It is true that our president is at times arrogant and harsh. However, I have been with him all these years. He is like a son to me. I will not leave him."

Murmurings filled the room, but no one left. Katsuya started to speak, and everyone immediately grew quiet. "The person called Kaiba Seto has his faults, but… Mm… He's actually a very warm and kind person inside, so he gets hurt easily. I want to protect him. It might be wrong for a guy like me to feel this way for guy like Kaiba, but… Even so, I like him a lot, so. So… I always want to stay by his side."

Katsuya turned his head to smile at Seto. "I like you, Kaiba!"

Someone started to clap. Suddenly everyone started to clap. Katsuya and Seto, both of their eyes comically widened, stared at their audience. Their brains still didn't register their situation when the conference room opened, admitting two more people inside. Mokuba was excitedly waving something in the air.

"_Niisama_! _Niisama_, we found it! The evidence, the evidence!"

"…What?" Seto suddenly leapt up, knocking the chair to the floor. "You found what?!"

Mokuba rushed forward, pushing reporters out of his way and handed thick bundle of papers and slim CD case to his older brother. He was grinning from ear to ear. "The S-nrio conspiracy! Their dirty tricks to lead both Kaiba Corporation and B-ndai Corporation to their demise! Wait until the press gets this out!"

Katsuya turned his head away from Mokuba and Seto to look at Ryuuji, who had entered with Mokuba. Their eyes met. Katsuya hesitated, then his mouth formed the words 'thank you'. Ryuuji smiled and mouthed back 'be happy'. He gave Katsuya a light wave, then pushed through the chaos to escape the room. Before he left, Ryuuji turned his head to look at Katsuya once more. Reporters were yelling themselves hoarse, camera flashes were nearly blinding, and Seto was laughing as he was spinning Katsuya around in the air. Katsuya was laughing with him.

Katsuya really looked happy…

Ryuuji slowly closed the door of the conference room, then leaned against it. His dark strands of hair fell, completely covering his eyes. His clenched fists were slightly shaking.

"Otogi."

Startled, he lifted his eyes. A hand was roughly placed on his head, and the hand proceeded to muss up his hair. "Wha—Honda, get your hands off of my hair!"

Honda had an unusually serious expression on his face. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Ryuuji lightly asked. Hiroto scowled.

"Don't be like that. I know your company was getting help from S-nrio. That company supports half of the funds right now, right? Is it okay for you to betray them like this?" Ryuuji's eyes progressively widened, and he opened his mouth, but Honda shook his head. "Nope, don't even try. I know you're the one who brought the evidence files from S-nrio. You'll be discovered soon, you know."

Ryuuji gave a helpless shrug of shoulders, the corner of his mouth drooping down as he lowered his eyes to stare at his feet. "…As long as Jounouchi is happy, it doesn't really matter."

Hiroto shook his head. "You really can't be helped, can you. Well, in the worst-case scenario, come to me if you don't have anywhere else to go. It's about time I get a wife, don't you think?"

"What?!" Ryuuji snapped. Hiroto burst into laughter, clapping his hands together apologetically.

"Sorry, sorry. It was an awful joke. Do you want to go and have some _sake (alcoholic beverage)_?"

Ryuuji gave a playful shove at Hiroto's shoulder. "Only because I don't have any better person to go with, Honda. Remember that."

"Yes sir," Hiroto said, slinging his arm around Ryuuji's shoulders. Ryuuji pushed away the arm. They walked away.

* * *

"Eh, Kaiba. You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Katsuya said, looking up at Seto. Seto arched one of his eyebrows.

"Oh? And miss all the fun?"

Katsuya stared at Seto. "…That was lame. Don't ever do that again."

He ducked his head to avoid Seto's fist and pressed the doorbell. He took a deep breath and waited for the door to open. When he felt Seto gingerly placing his hand on his shoulder, he cracked his eyes open and gave him a feeble smile.

The door slowly opened, revealing Katsuya's father. He glanced from Katsuya to Seto. Katsuya cleared his throat. "Um, hi, Dad. We have something to discuss with you."

Katsuya's father wordlessly opened the door wider and stepped aside. Seto and Katsuya settled themselves on the sofa, and Katsuya's father took a seat across from them. Katsuya took in a deep breath, then he gestured to Seto. "I didn't officially introduce you two yet. Dad, this is Kaiba Seto. He's my lover. And… Kaiba, this is my father."

"It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Seto said, politely inclining his head in a short bow. Katsuya's father lowered his head in return, but he remained silent.

"Dad, I'm going to go live with Kaiba."

Katsuya's father turned his head away and nodded. Katsuya placed his hand on his father's arm. "Dad. Kaiba and I want you to move with us. Give us a chance to make this up to you. We're going to adopt kids and… I'm sorry Kaiba is not cute, but he's a really wonderful man. It might not be a family you wanted, but won't you come with me?"

Katsuya's father shook his head. Katsuya slowly dropped his hand from the arm and lowered his head in disappointment. "…I see."

"But let's have dinner together sometime," the father softly said. "I want to get to know the person my son likes so much."

Both Seto and Katsuya snapped their head up. Katsuya's father chuckled at their expression. "What parent can win against their child…? I am disappointed, Katsuya-kun, but… I do not want to lose you because of this."

"Dad…"

"Jounouchi-san…"

"Ah, and your mother wanted me to give this to you." The father took a white envelope out of the drawer next to his seat and handed it to his son. Katsuya took the paper, anticipation clearly written upon his face. Seto watched over his shoulder as Katsuya slowly ripped the envelope and pulled the contents out.

"Eh…?"

"This is… a deed?" Seto questioned. "For land."

"Mother bought land for me?" Katsuya glanced at his father, who nodded. He stared at the paper in his hands again. "But… Noriko is the person… who paid for my college tuition, right? Mother… Mother had paid the college tuition, too?"

"Even if she never expressed it, your mother was very proud of you," Katsuya's father quietly said. "Even though she detested your eyes that so resembled my own, you're still her child. She wanted to give you this deed to build the house for your family once you got married."

Katsuya stared at the deed, then folded it up and tucked it back into the envelope. Tears were clinging to edge of his eyes, but he was widely smiling. "She doesn't… hate me, does she? This is her way of saying she accepts Kaiba and my relationship?"

"I'm not your mother. Ask her yourself," the father said. But his eyes told Katsuya what he needed to know. Katsuya leapt up from his chair and bowed.

"Thank you! Kaiba and I will visit often, and you can come with us anytime you want to!"

"I'll treat you to a delicious dinner," Seto added, standing up with Katsuya. Katsuya's father stood up with them to walk them to the door.

"I have no wish to live with two young lovers. I wish to maintain what little sanity I have left."

Seto shook his hand with Katsuya's father, then he left with Katsuya. He glanced at his lover. "…Did that go okay?"

Katsuya replied, "It wasn't exactly a dream scenario, but considering this is real life… Yeah, it went okay. It went really okay…"

* * *

White ocean waves crashed against cream-colored sand before dispersing into nothingness. Lonely sea gulls called out to each other across the vast blue sky. Seto and Katsuya were walking down the coastline together, hand in hand. Their free hands held their shoes and socks, and they were walking bare feet. The sand felt soft and squishy against their feet. The water that washed over the feet felt refreshingly cold. Stray ocean breeze messed up their hair before running off again.

"Jounouchi."

"Mm?" Katsuya asked. He pulled away his hand and leaned down to pick up a strangely shaped seashell. He washed the sand away from its surface by shaking it in the water. He studied the delicate pink interior of the shell.

"Let's get married."

"…"

Katsuya tossed the shell away and continued to walk. Seto watched him without moving from his spot. "I can make all the arrangements. Even if the marriage is not legal in Japan, in places like Las Vegas, we can get married. So… If you want…"

Seto's voice grew smaller as Katsuya continued to walk. Katsuya suddenly stopped, but he didn't turn around to look at Seto.

"Do you know any good architect?"

"What?" Seto asked, frowning. "…I do, but why?"

Katsuya started to walk again, but at a much slower pace this time. "Build me a house on the land my mother gave me."

"What?!"

"A small house with white walls and blue roof with lots of windows. Leave a little room for a garden so that children can play. Light will be pouring into wooden-colored living room filled with soft, fluffy sofa and cushions and teddy bears, and toys will be lying here and there. Children will run around the house and play, and I'll say to you, 'welcome back home, Seto', every time you come back home from work. Then our children will beg you for presents and show off their schoolwork to you."

Soft laughter escaped the smaller man. "I might consider living in that house with you and making that family for you if you build it for me."

"Ah…"

Seto ran after Katsuya. "Do, do you mean that?! _Bonkot_… I mean, Jounouchi, that was a 'yes' just now, right? You're going to marry me if I build you a house? Jounouchi, wait!"

Laughter rang high into the vast blue sky.

Sometimes life is so harsh and cruel that I want to give everything up. I don't want to see 'tomorrow' anymore. In sweet world of dreams, I want to remain sleeping forever, because I won't get hurt that way. Reality inflicts pains that won't go away. But that's wrong. If I stay sleeping, nothing will change. I have to wake up. I have to face the reality. With my own two hands, I must create my own future. With my own two legs, I must walk to move forward. When I fall down and shed tears, I must stand up again. Holding my head high and living with conviction, someday I'll find 'happiness', even in reality. Then I'll smile and say, 'I'm really glad I chose to live'.

How about you? Have you decided?

_Konya koso kimenasai!_ (Please decide tonight!)

* * *

-The End-

I hope the ending was up to the honorable readers' expectations. Because I wasn't familiar with the world of _Yuugiou_ when I started this story, I'm afraid there were many mistakes. I hope my understanding and writing improved over time. Sometimes I ran away from this story, saying to myself, 'I can't do this; I can't write well at all. I don't want to disappoint anyone. I don't want to get hurt…' But I'm very happy that this story reached its end. After all, everything that has a beginning must have an end.

Arita Manabu and Hirose Akihiro are characters from a novel I enjoyed very much. The novel was called 'Love Times'. Despite that both the novel and my story are office romance, my story is so inferior to the novel that it's quite disheartening. –laughs-

Kaiba and Jounouchi found 'happiness' in 'reality'. I sincerely hope that you'll find true 'happiness' while you walk down the road called 'life', too. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading and responding to this story!


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